be no true Faith without Charity Moses in the Ecclesiastick Story was wont to say I like that Faith better that can be seen then that Faith which onely can be heard Ubi bona opera non apparent ad extra ibi non est bonum opus ad intra So where there is no Charity ad extra without there is no true Faith ad intra within So John Husse Though Faith have a preheminence because works grow out of it and so Faith as the root is first yet Works have the preheminence thus both in that they include Faith in Believers in them and that they diffuse and spread themselves more then Faith doth And it is remarkable That though Christ refer oft to believing in this life because he would be sure to plant and fasten that safely which is the root of all Faith yet in the next life his proceedings are grounded on Works and he will judge us according to our Fruits 2. Because works are visible demonstrations of Faith In Titles and Conveyances where Lands are made over to us we have Seals to our Writings and witnesses to our Seals so here our persons are instrumentally justified by our Faith as we ordinarily speak but our Faith is justified by our Works The evidence to God that our Works are good scil formally is our Faith the evidence to men that our Faith is good probably is our Works Men can give testimony concerning our Charity but Faith is a secret and God onely can witness to that Now God who is all Spirit will not judge the World immediately but by our Mediator God-Man that humane nature that hung on the Cross shall q. d. sit on a Throne the Judge then shall be visible and the Persons to be Judged shall be visible and the publick processe shall in a great part be concerning things visible too God will so act at that day as that all men shall see the righteousnesse of his Processe he will judg not according to his secret counsels his cabinet decrees but according to evidence and his revealed Law Now James saith Shew me thy faith without works and I will shew thee my faith by my works this demonstration à posteriori is manifest Faith like the Queen of the South comes not alone to Solomon she brings her traine after her Faith is this Queen let Repentance be her Usher to go before her and good Works as Patience Charity Meeknesse the Court that follow her so let her come to the King of Glory in the Presence Chamber of Jesus Christ in heaven As long as we feel thy pulse beating we are sure thou livest yet the beating of thy pulse is not the cause why thou livest but a signe by the effects As Christ said of himself when the question was whether he was the Messias View my works said he they are they that testifie of me So I may say of men their conversations their works testifie what they are Good works before men are good witnesses of our faith before God God will then examine men of those things that man can bear testimony to 3. Because men accused naturally and generally appeal to their good works by whom or by what wil the hypocrite be tried By Gods people No by the work of Regeneration No for that 's a mystery unknown to them but by my works will I be tryed why then to thy works thou shalt go thou boastest of thy works but where is their goodnesse How can thy works be good if thou thy selfe the worker art evil The Lord likes Adverbs better then Adjectives Benè better then Bonum Do your works proceed from a good heart and do they tend to a good end Our works must not only materially be good for there may be malum opus in bonâ materiâ but the aim and intention of our works must be good also or else notwithstanding our good works we are evil workers before God And further I believe that the meer outside Christian will then be found to have been defective in good works in some or other good work Either he will be charged for injustice in getting his estate with which he hath been charitable and that 's not properly charity for a man as we say to steal the whole loaf out of the cupboard of a poor man and then to give him a crust at the door Or as the Spanish Proverb is to steal a Goose and stick down a Feather Or secondly For partiality in doing good We may observe That all Causes are required to make an Action good but one defective Circumstance will render an Action bad Fourthly Good works will then be called in for Evidence because by them we are like God What one Evangelist hath Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect another renders it Be you merciful as your Heavenly Father Some things God teacheth us by precept other things he teacheth us by Example as to repent by Precept to love by Example Now we more imitate God in following his Precepts then in obeying his Commands Simply so considered we are more like God in our Love then in our Repentance hence God in Scripture is called Love but not Faith properly A Believer that is a good man a man full of compassion and bowels of mercy is the most godly the most God-like man in the world For the Application and Conclusion of this Doctrine That when a Believer dies his works die not with him Vse 1. Hence is by way of Caution concerning good works Good works say the Papists on this Scripture go before in respect of Merit but follow after in respect of Reward but the words speak of the Reward that follows not of the Merit that goes before a Reward we acknowledge Merit we deny we shall be rewarded according to our good Works but not for our good Works It is sufficient to merit that merit sufficeth not The Antinomians say Good works are not necessary for Salvation they might better say They are not necessary as to Justification that is that they Justifie not He that beggeth Mercy boasteth not of Merit Good works do not go before but follow us to Heaven The blood of Christ is the golden Key to open the door of Paradice It is reported that the Doctrine of Simon Magus was That a bare profession of Faith without a reformation in the life was sufficient for salvation Austin justly conceives that one reason why James so prefers Works Cave non tantum ab operibus malis sed etiam à bonis as to say That Abraham was justified by them was because that some Licentiats had so abused the Doctrine of Faith delivered before by Paul Good works are such things as no man can be saved for them and yet no man can be saved without them The truth is we are not onely not saved for our Works that we are not so much as saved for our Faith The greatest degree of Faith is not worth the least or lowest
make a difference between dying for and dying in the Lord as if that belonged onely to Martyrs this to all true Professors Martyres hic intelligi concedimus solos vero negamus Gorhan But the substance is That when Gods children have done their work they go to bed their Lusts die in them and they themselves die in the Lord as Children in their Fathers arms Secondly As we have the work so likewise we have the wages or rather reward of Christians And that 1. Generally They are said to be blessed Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord They are blessed in Hope while they live and blessed in Possession when they die As a Christian cannot be fully happy before death so he cannot at all be miserable after death 2. Particularly and Punctually And that 1. Negatively Because they rest from their Labors their labors in suffering their labors under sin the labors of their Callings and subjection unto Temptations The World was their Tempestuous Sea Heaven is their Port and Harbor the Earth was the place of their working Heaven the place of their resting In portu navigunt quare sopor fessis 2. Positively and their works do follow them Though they leave the world yet they leave not their works behinde them The authority and warrant of all this is premised This Oracle is not the Invention of man but the voice of God It is the Spirit of God who knows the minde of God that saith so Thus saith the Spirit Quaery Why is it said from henceforth Were not those that dyed in the Lord before happy Answer Some say the Emphasis on this Particle henceforth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. d. Times will now be troublesome and as it was their blessedness that lived to the Lord at any time to die for the Lord so especially it is their Blessedness to die then It is some mercy to die before times of Judgement as it is a mercy for some to die in times of judgment Secondly Others refer it to their Blessedness immediately after their death that is their Souls sleep not in their Bodies till the Resurrection as some dreamingly affirm they are immaterial and immortal and â—o sooner do they go out of their earthly Tabernacles but presently they ascend to Heaven It is probable that the Spirit hereby would also presignifie by way of contradiction the Opinion of the Papists about Purgatory as if the souls of good men did take that stage in their way to Glory No saith the Spirit their Purgatory is in this world here they are purified and immediately upon the dissolution of the union between their souls and Bodies as their Bodies are blessed in the hope of a Resurrection so their Souls are presently blessed in possession those that die in the Lord are thenceforth or immediately blessed But I principally on this solemn occasion pitch on the last clause And their works do follow them First for the Explication then for the Application 1. For the Explication here are two Quaeries to be answered Quaerie 1. What is meant by works Answ There are 1. Evil works as there are evil workers The works of the flesh are manifest uncleanness idolatry strife and contentions Gal. 5.19 20. At death the sins of the godly leave them and their Graces onely follow them there sins shall be cast not into a shallow river where they may appear and swim up aloft upon the waters but into a deep Sea of Oblivion We must remember our evil works and God will forget them we must forget our good works and God will remember them 2. There are also good works or as the Apostle phraseth it fruits such as are gentleness and joy temperance and meekness Gal. 5.22 23. And these are those works that follow those that die in the Lord. 1. Specially works of Charity as they say of Oswald King of Denmark that in regard of his liberallity to the poor his right hand though he was dead withered not Works of Charity are in Scripture in a peculiar maner called good works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of principality and eminency above many other works that yet are good in regard of the influence they have for to produce and give a lustre to all good works 2. More largely Though works of charity be good works and necessary to salvation yet there are many good works besides works of charity Faith is the work of God and a good work repentance is the work of God and a good work Charity is a Caelestial Orb but not large enough for all the stars of good works to shine and move in Therefore when the Apostle speaks here of good works we are thereby to understand in general all works that are good not onely a single Work not onely their Charity but their Faith their Repentance their Holiness they all do follow them Quaerie 2. What is meant by their works A. 1. Here is noted propriety Their own works follow them not the works of other men which Criticism suggesteth to us 1. The Absurdity of the Papist who maintains that a man may be so righteous as that he may not onely merit Heaven for himself but for others also It was an arrogant saying of a Romish Pharisee That he had done all for his own Salvation many years ago and staid in the world after that onely to gather treasure for others But as a wicked man shall perish by the hand of his own unbelief so the Just shall live by his own faith not the Prayers and Performances not the duties and doings of others but their own works follow them 2. The formal interest of a Believer in his works They are his works not because he is the fountain but because he is the subject of his Graces Sin otherwise is most of all things ours yet in a favorable sense as nothing is so much our own before we work as our will so nothing is so much our own as our works when they are done they cleave to us whether as fomentations to nourish us or as Corrasives to gnaw upon us that lies in the nature of the work but ours they are and cling to us our Work seem to be more ours then our Faith is ours our Works are ours as we have done them our Faith ours as we have received it Faith is ours as our Goods are ours Works are ours as our Children are ours Certè nos operamur sed Deus operatur in nobis ut operemur Querie 3. What is meant by this that our Works are said to follow us A. Though the acts of Grace be transient yet their vertue is everlasting They follow us Notes 1. Their company to glory As a Christian follows his work on earth so his works shall follow or accompany him to heaven he goes not out of the world naked and void of grace as he came into the world but he carries the garments of salvation the extrinsick and Red coat of Justification the intrinsick and internal
white coat of Sanctification along with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they follow or accompany him 2. Their inseperability Death may rob them of their estates but death cannot plunder them of their Graces Death may separate their heads from their bodies but shall never seperate or take their Crowns from their heads The ambitious man cannot carry his honor with him the Mammonist cannot carry his Gold with him but the godly man shall carry his godliness his holiness his works with him as the shadow follows the Sun or as the sequacious Ivy hedera sequax clings to the Oak 3. Their Honor and Dignity of State Grace we say is Glory begun and Glory is Grace perfected I as God is glorious in holiness so a godly man is glorious in holiness he is glorious in Grace his Grace is his glory As when a Nobleman or Ambassador is to attend on or visit a Prince or Emperor his Gentlemen in their Braveries and his servants in their Liveries wait on him to the Palace or Presence Chamber So a Believer honors God in this world and God will honor him out of this world he glisters and shines here in his silks and embroyderies of humility love and righteousness and when he is called up from this world he goes not without his Retinue his Graces his works accompany or follow him to Glory one Paradice as he said then enters into anther From the words thus opened I shall present you with this Proposition or Doctrine Proposit That when a Christian dies his works die not with him There is a sixfold attendance on a true Christian by his good works or graces when he leaves this world 1. His works follow him in respect of that good report they leave behinde him It is a Judgement to have our names writ on earth but it s an honor when our persons are in Heaven to have a name of honor on Earth A wicked man expires and goes out but it is like a Tallow candle leaving a stench behinde him a righteous man expires and goes out of this world but like a Wax candle leaving a sweet perfume behinde him His works in their report follow him 1. In a blessed memory Do well and hear ill is wrote on Heaven Gates said the Martyr yet oftentimes do well and hear well after we have done well is wrote on Heaven Gates Of you it shall be said this and that man was born in her While the poor curse the memory of the wicked they bless God in the remembrance of the righteous Some mens names are rotten before their bodies but other mens names are alive and fresh when their Bodies are rotten being laid in their Graves tantorum nominibus semper assurgo said the Moralist of the mention of Cato and Lelius The name of Lazarus is recorded that is supposed to be his proper name but the common name of Dives is onely related a certain rich man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is all to signifie who he was God thought him not worthy of further mention G d shews himself herein contrary to the world who have no name for the godly poor but silly wretch or a by-name as lame Giles 2. God makes a memorial of the righteous Prov. 10.7 A good name as the Father observes is the godly mans heir The names of wicked men are either altogether omitted as in that place or Recorded with Infamy as Jeroboam is mentioned in the Cronicles of Israel Pilate in the Creed Gardener in the Martyrology but the names of the righteous are famous David is dead but his zeal for God lives David saith the Scripture was a man after Gods own heart Job is dead but yet his patience for God lives have ye not heard or ye have heard of the patience of Job Abel was murthered above 4000 years ago yet his Faith is alive to this very day he yet speaketh his tongue is out of his head and yet his faith is not tongue-tyed Oh saith God what a Believer was Abel some render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 passively is yet spoken of that is he is of blessed memory his name is honorable in the Church 2. His works follow him in their report by an happy example A good mans person is gone but his footsteps are left behinde him when he is dead and gone to heaven and beholdeth the face of God in glory his example left behinde him is a Looking-glass for others to dress themselves by a Copy for others to write after This womans charity saith Christ shall be made mention of where ever the Gospel shall be preached The Father its true dies but yet he lives in his child that wears his image especially in a moral sense when the child imitates the vertues of the father When a friend bewailed to Epaminandas's want of issue that noble Captain replyed That he should leave two fair daughters behinde him the Battles of Leuctra and Mautinea in which his memory should survive A good man never dies childless his examples of Patience and integrity are his never dying off-spring In this sense Luther and Calvin and the rest of those Champions that wrote for Christ and dyed in the Lord are yet alive in their words and works And though their souls be in Heaven yet are they instrumental for the salvation of souls on Earth As long as their Works or Writings are extant in the World they shall not have done preaching to as long as their holiness towards and courage for God are upon Record and published they shall not have done converting of sinners to or at least of confirming of Saints in Christ efficacior est vox operis quam opus voeis Secondly Their works follow the Saints many of them formally and really Indeed they take leave of Faith and hope they are militant Graces and onely suitable to the state of the Church on Earth but Love is a Triumphant Grace and goes along with them to Glory and now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity the greatest Extensively Faith and Hope being more personal Graces Love being communicative rather here protensively in respect of duration to save a man Faith is great in a man saved Love is the greatest Faith and Hope and Repentance go with Christians vertually as he that hath the Spirits and Extracts of Herbs is said to carry the Herbs with him and a Merchant that turns his Lands into Pearls and Gold is said to carry his Estate with him so the fruit and substance of Faith lives though justifying Faith or Faith justifying dyes The Motto of Chawcer Farewel Physick may well be the Motto of a dying Christian Farewel Repentance farewel Hope Repentance is a plank after Shipwrack and where there is no sea no water there is no need of a plank As the Sword-bearer to the Emperor Charls being a Protestant carryed the Mace before his Master to the Church door when he went to Mass but his conscience would
not suffer him to go in with him So in a sense Faith guards us to Heaven Gates and when it hath done its office there it leaves us Faith follows a Christian as the shadow doth the Sun from one point of the Compass or Dyal to another until it comes to the Miridian and there it leaves it but love is a Royal Grace an Heavenly Peer with State and Majesty it enters into Glory and dwells with the King of Glory himself to all Eternity As Dr. Preston said when a dying I shall change my place but not my company his Graces followed him Thirdly Their Works follow them in respect of the comfort of them as the wicked onely leave their duties behinde them and carry their sins with them so the godly leave their sins behinde them and carry their graces with them they put off their garments when they go to bed And here 1. After death a childe of God is comforted with the success of his works How comfortable at the last day will it be for a Master of a Family to present his servants at the Tribunal Bar before the Lord and to say Lord Here am I and my servants with me that not onely wear my Livery but also obeyed thy commands For the Ministers of the Gospel that have been faithful to present their flocks before the great Bishop and Shepheard of souls and to say Here are the purchase of thy blood the travail of our souls the fruit of our labors and tears As the Ancient sweetly brings in the Apostles like so many File-leaders severally bringing up their Converts to the Judgement-Seat Peter attended with the converted Jews John leading up the Asiatiques Thomas the Indians and Paul the Gentiles Et nos hic Pastores vocati sumus ibi greges non ducemus And it is the perswasion of many great Divines That the spiritual Fathers in Christ shall know their children in Christ at that day Their success will advantage their comfort and therefore it is part of our duty to labor for success though it must be acknowledged that God rewards us not according to the success of our labors properly but according to our labors for success Let none be discouraged that their faithful works have not their success with men for as the good Physician always heals not so the good Preacher always converts not The success of our labors is his work not ours and God rewards us not according to his own work simply and abstractly taken by the leave of that yet true and famous affirmation God crowns his own works in us but according to our works He shall give to every man according to his works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we had better have one work writ in Heaven then a thousand on Earth and though men may forget labors of love on earth yet the comfort is they shal be reminded rewarded by Christ in heaven those that convert souls and run like stars on Earth shall at last be Crowned and shine like stars in Heaven Dan. 12.3 4. 2. After death a childe of God shall be comforted with the Testimony of his Conscience And thus 1. His Integrity shall follow or accompany him Miserable is he whose conscience condemns him though all the world acquit him but thrice happy is he whose conscience acquits him though all the world accuse him A man may have hypocrisie in him and yet be no Hypocrite he may slumber and sleep with the foolish Virgins yet be no foolish Virgin while we are on this side our Fathers house we cannot but trip and stumble though we keep the way while we are on this side Paradice we cannot behold a Pomgranate that hath no rotten grain in it This may support that if we bring our Graces to the Touch-stone the Lord himself will never bring them to the Balance the charge of Hypocrisie is familiar and easie the proof is laborious and hard We are not made Lord Judges of mens Consciences and therefore notwithstanding private suspitions we must forbear and refer the censure of the full and final estate of man to God It s the work of God to discover Hypocrites not of man while a man goes about to discover an Hypocrite let him beware lest in seeking to finde out one he discover two the searched and the searcher Quam immensa est laetitia de recordatione transacti operis Possibly it may be said concerning many Christians who never studied to be conformable to the Critical Religion of the World as it was said of Father Paul the Venetian because men knew not how to convince him either in his Profession or Life they had onely this common plea against him That he was an Hypocrite But what a testimony will Samuel bring with him at that day to say in the audience of Men and Angels Whose Ox have I stoln For blessed Paul to manifest at that day This is the testimony of my conscience that in godly simplicity I have behaved my self in the world My Beloved get a good conscience for that is a thousand witnesses and a thousand witnesses will not at that day be so good as a good conscience How amiable will the face of true Grace be then How abominable will the vizor and counterfeit be 2. His Charity and Love shall witness for him Many have no greater sensible evidence of their loving Christ then by the love they bear to his servants that wear his Livery to his Children that bear his Image But then the scruples of the upright shall be dissolved resolved and they shall not need so to puzle their brains to finde the love of the Brethren in their hearts How refreshing will it be then for a Believer to have occasion to say by way of Praise and Testimony the Lord gave me the loaf and I grudged not to give others the crums God made my cup full and I made it to run over for the relief of others It will I am sure it will be more comfortable for a man to say I have been good and I have done good in the World then to say I had all the goods of the World Good works are a Treasure and will follow you good and cordial Prayers are a Treasure and they will go before you and Faith and Hope are a Treasure and they will go with you It is strange to consider how many bad words men have for good works as if to be charitable were to be Popishly affected but if charity be Antichristianism Christ is the Pope and Rome is at Jerusalem Rev. 14.13 Acts 7.59 Luke 23.43 Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luke 16.9 Not by way of merit but by way of concomitancy every acting of every Grace will stand us in stead a charitable act as well as a repenting act Quicquid pauperibus spargimus nobis colligimus I shall not impose on your belief But it is reported that
Evagrius in Cedremus bequeathed 300 l. in his will to the poor but took a Bond of Synesius the Bishop for the payment of it in the other life the next night after his departure appeared to him in his shape delivered in the Bond cancell'd and fully discharged saying Take your Bond again I am satisfied Thirdly His perseverance will follow him It were better for a man never to set his hand to the plow then to look and to go backward better never to have begun in profession then to end in Apostacy Perseverance is the Crown of Grace because it is the Crowning Grace Perseverance is the Crown of Grace and Heaven is the Crown of Perseverance Praise the Marriner when he is arrived at his Harbor commend the Souldiers valour when he hath got the day and won the field Hold on and hold out Faith and Prayer said the Martyr Hold fast that which thou hast that no man take thy Crown saith the Lord Revel 3.11 How sweet will it be for a Believer to carry the testimony of his perseverance in his conscience to the last Assizes to have ground to say It 's true Lord I have had many infirmities many failings yet my heart was upright my heart did not lay hypocrisie at my door I confess I often stumbled I had almost faln many a time have I offended against thy glory before the World but oftner have I grieved thy gracious spirit in private yet through thy grace I have risen I have fought the good fight I have run my race and though I have many ways forsaken thee yet thou didst not forsake and take thy farewel of me thou didst pardon my sins and heal my soars We cannot but be shot at by Satan while we are besieged we get many a fall and bruise by the world lust scarce a Jacob that wrestleth with God but goeth limping yet where sin is a Tyrant not a King an enemy at our backs not a friend in our bosoms it wil not be charged on us so as to condemn so as to damn us What a comfortable sight is it to see a Christian to contend against flesh blood in this world to ruine with Christ rather then to reign with Caesar to march out of the Battle though wounded and maimed yet with his colours flying to the Grave If they be blessed that die in how blessed are they that moreover die for the Lord Mori pro Domino Martyrum est in Domino confessorum Bern. Beatus est Petrus qui cruciatur nec minus beatus est Johannes qui in Lecto moritur Aret. in Loc. Fourthly His works follow him in respect of Testimonies ad extra and so his works shall finde a probation 1. From the good Angels As they are Gods Messengers to us so they are our witnesses to God the tears of repenting sinners are the wine of Angels they rejoyce in therefore they must needs observe the conversion of sinners Many Actions done out of the view of men are yet within the cognizance of Angels The good Angels shall give in their testimony against the wicked and for the righteous such an one Lord was a Blasphemer a Drunkard we can witness to it we have heard him swear we have seen him drunk but such and such were attenders upon Gospel Ordinances were given to Prayer and Meditation to Repentance and good works and as far as we can judge were not onely Professors of sincerity but sincere Professors were not onely called Saints Saints by calling but Saints indeed by Dedication and Infusion not onely called Christians but Christians as they were called Zech. 1.10 2. His works shall finde a probation from the very Divels As at the great day in some things the godly shall acquit the Divels for the Divels are not always guilty when we are filthy we often paint the Divels blacker then they are to make our selves whiter then we are and give them their due so in some things the Divels as very Divels as now they are shall acquit the godly God q. d. will then say to Satan as one of old Satan hast thou considered my servants Job David and Peter and Satan that accused them while living shall then as it were justifie them Wisdom is too often condemned by her children here but Wisdom shall be justified by her enemies hereafter Providence will extort this confession from Divels true Lord they were great sinners but we cannot deny the truth of their repentance and we did often tempt them when yet they were not overcome Thus Religion shall be cleared not onely by Divelish men but by Divels The Divels will then testifie that wherein Gods servants failed it was much because of their snares that such and such of Gods children had lived more comfortably but that they tempted them to dispair had lived more righteously but that they tempted them to scandal had done more work for God in his vineyard but that they disquieted and hindred them Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you said the evil Spirit in the Acts. Thirdly He hath a testimony of his good works from good men Religion is now made a party by too too many and men became of an opinion not to serve God but to get Votes for their reputation O what a refuge is it for the Hypocrite to flie to the applause and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods people to cry up others for their Heavenly-mindedness that the Heavenly-minded indeed might not cry out against them for worldly-mindedness not but that the good opinion of good men is considerable but in se and separated from goodness of practise in our selves it s but the varnish of Hypocrisie As the evil Opinion of an evil man maketh not a good man evil so the good Opinion of a good man maketh not an evil man good yet as God is the witness of our heart so good men are the witnesses of our lives The Rabbies have a fine Proverb That he that doth a good work bonum opus gets to himself against the last day Advocatum an Advocate and so many good works so many Advocates but Christ is our Advocate but he that continues so many evil works as he doth so many Divels or so many Accusers he procures against himself in Judgement Good men will then testifie one for another when Justice shall enquire what such and such were not that God needs mans testimony but to speak to conscience and according to the substance of the process at that day the righteous shall answer Lord since we are called to be witnesses we must needs say That while such were a blaspheming thy name a scoffing at thy people we knew them to be Blasphemers and Scoffers these and these of thy people were a praying a hearing of thy Oracles a mourning for sin they and we did comfortably and often serve the Lord together Fourthly They shall have a probation from evil men Their accusation is not so considerable as their
acquittance Men said he speak evil of me but they are evil men that do so and an argument for us from an adversary is not to be neglected though wicked men curse the Saints while they live yet they shall bless and justifie them in the day of Visitation as the Apostle speaks 1. Either when pangs of conscience seize on them Or Secondly When they come to die as one said O that I might be Craesus living and Socrates dying Or as the Proverb is Let me live in Italy but let me die in Spain So Balaam though he lived the life of the wicked yet he loved the death of the righteous though men live Hypocrites yet they would die sincere though many live by a form of godliness yet they would fain die by the power Or Thirdly They shal respect and honor them at the Judgement-day Oh will Pharaoh say then that I were Moses Wil Cain say that I had been but suffering Abel Who would be a Rake-hell or a Ranter then when many of those that have been Judges shall be judged and the judged many of them I mean shall be Judges when Paul that once stood at the Bar shall sit on the Bench for the Apostle telleth us That the Saints shall judge the world That time is a coming though now the world judgeth the Saints and one Saint judgeth another that is shall be q. d. Coassessors with Christ at the last day consenting to and applauding of his Judgement of the world when the Judge shall say to the Cursers Go ye cursed the Saints shall say Amen Lord when Rabshekah shall be thrown down to Hell and Hezekiah taken up to Heaven Who would rise in that estate of wrath he was born lived and dyed in Those that now accuse the godly for dissemblers and Hypocrites will then publikely confess their sincerity Christians Be not discouraged in your more strict profession of Christianity it is no matter what now they say of you behinde your backs but what they shall be forced to speak of you to your faces at that day Fifthly Even the Spirit of God will bear a testimony to his works What though all men and Angels should condemn us now God himself will not condemn but acquit us as he hath a bottle for our tears so he hath a file for our Prayers and a Book for our Works Wicked men look on the infirmities of Gods people their mole-hills as mountains their motes as beams as sins of the greatest magnitude and on their own mountains and beams as mole-hills and motes Men are merciless in their censures but God hath more equitable scales and can give Grains of allowance to his Gold Even as God seemed to stand Neuter for a time while there was a dispute held between Job and his Friends concerning his integrity at length God steps from behinde the curtain and pleads his cause Who saith my servant Job is an Hypocrite you charge desperately on my servant but you have not spoke of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath done Job 42.7 Gods people oft in their temptations speak that against themselves that God never spake we are but Hypocrites we are cast out of Gods presence these miscarriages of ours have dissolved the Covenant between God and us are inconsistent with integrity or true Grace but God Revel 2.2 knows their works their patience their labors of love their gold notwithstanding some dross their sincerity amidst many failings and will make them known to themselves all the World at the last day the Lord will say concerning this and that man I know them to be cleansed by the blood of my Son however men have cast dust on them Others have surveyed their lives and seen some spots which they themselves have lamented and I know them to be Holy and to have feared my Name Now if God shall justifie who shall condemn at that day Fifthly and lastly Their works shall follow them in respect of a guerdon and reward In Scripture the word Work signifieth three things 1. The very act of Labor so Solomon tells us that in the Grave there is no wisdom no work that is no working for Heaven Eccles 9.10 2. For the effect of labor that which is wrought we call his work as well as the act of his labor thus the fire will try every mans work 1 Cor. 3.13 3. For the reward of a Christians Labor Work is taken for wages it is usual to put Prayer for the thing prayed for or for the thing obtained by Prayer so Hannah 1 Sa. 1.27 The Lord hath given me my petition that is The childe for which I did Petition It is usual to put sin for the reward or punishment of sin Gen. 4.13 My sin that is my punishment for sin is greater then I can bear so also its usual to put the work as for the reward of the work and that 1. In malo as Jer. 4.18 Thy way hath procured this unto thee this is thy wickedness that is this is the reward of thy wickedness 2. In bono as in my Text their works followed them that is the reward of their works they had done their work and now God rewards them through Grace Their works die not with them as Hortensius his labors did A cup of cold water shall be produced Matth. 25. They forget their good works When saw we thee an hungry or naked But Christ remembers them inasmuch as you did it to one of these little ones you did it unto me those that have done well shall have a well done those that have sown to the Spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life Glory and Honor and Peace shall be to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile if in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable as in Adam all dyed so in Christ shall all be made alive as sure as we are gracious so sure shall we be glorious as sure as Heaven enters into a man in this world so sure shall that man enter into Heaven in the world to come To be brief in this as certainly as now the Crown of immortality and Glory shines in the eyes of Gods people so certainly shall it one day sit gloriously on their heads It s easier to tell what Heaven is not then what it is We may talk of the greatness of our future reward but we shall never know the weight of that Crown till we have it on our heads the worth of that Livery till we have it on our backs the greatness of that Glory till it rest in and shine into our hearts The reward of good works shall be great Q. But why doth the Gospel chiefly mention or more apparantly note the reward of works of mercy pity and charity at the last day A. Upon four accompts 1. Because good works are the fruits of Faith There may be charity without Faith but there can
degree of Glory It was height of Pride that made a Jesuit say Coelum gratis non accipiam the value of Faith grows non ex persona credente vel ex natura fidei sed ex pacto contrahenti not so much from our condition as from Gods Covenant He that believes shall be saved There is no inconsistency between these two Propositions He that believes and he that repents shall be saved For though we are justified by Faith onely yet not by Faith alone that is Works justifie not with Faith and Faith justifies not without Works Good Works qualifie the subject believing but Faith is the proper instrument of receiving the Covenant of Grace Faith is an evidence to us of our righteousness before God and Works are an evidence of the truth of our Faith before men Out of the point of Justification Works cannot be sufficiciently justified or commended but in the point of Justification Works are not to be admitted How hard is it to joyn together what God would not have seperated Faith and Works so to work and repent as if we were to be saved q. d. without Faith and so to believe as if we were to be saved without Works How difficult is it for a man a moral man to see the necessity of Faith to cry out What though I am righteous before men if yet I should want the righteousness of Christ before God My righteousness is but as rags my duties but as dung my tears need Christs blood Lord without thy free Grace and a Plaister of the merits of Christ notwithstanding all my Prayers and Performances I am undone Luther well observes how much the believing and the begetting Abraham differs the begetting Abraham was a worker the believing Abraham was righteous his Faith was on Christ the object of Faith and we are blessed not with the working but with the believing Abraham Vse 2. Is for the information about the aim and end of men in their Works It is curiously questioned whether it be not a sordid way of obedience for a man to eye his reward in his obedience but it is more becoming a Philosopher then a Divine I judge to provoke his Auditors to vertue without the least reflection of a future reward If that be true which is affirmed by many that Grace and Glory differ not specifically but gradually and that be true which is affirmed by all That mans Happiness and Gods Glory be indisputably conjoyned in Heaven then certainly we may have our eye to the Star while we have our hand at the Helm we may have one eye to our Reward as well as the other to the Work As it is no Prerogative act for God to damn the Hypocrite at last day but an act of Justice sin being the antecedent cause of wrath so the salvation of the Vpright will not appear to be the product onely of Gods Arbitrary Grace but according to his revealed truth the manifestation of his remunerative righteousness Grace in us being though not the cause yet the antecedent of Glory Hence it is that the Gospel deters us from sin by arguments formed out of Hell as the unquenchable fire and the terrors of the Lord so it animates us to duty by arguments made out of Heaven and Glory How doth it embolden a Believer to sail through Storms and Tempests when he thinks on his Harbor to resist unto blood and rather to die for then deny Christ when he ponders on his Crown Let us endure the cold frosts let us be content though we are buffeted for a while cryed the Martyrs of old for Heaven will make amends for all There may be amor mercedis a love of the Reward as well of the Rewarder and yet no mercinary love no amor mercenarius When I will not love God without this world when I love or respect God onely for riches and honors c. this is a mercinary love but not when I love God for the hoped perfection of my Graces for the moral obolition of my sins for the contemplation of his presence in light for if the enjoyment of God be the essential Heaven then to love the enjoyment of God is to love Heaven and I am no more mercinary for loving of God the more for Heaven then for loving of the enjoyment of God Some have applauded the strength of direct obedience without eyeing the reward by an Emblem of a Lady with a Water-pot in one hand and a Fire-brand in the other saying She would serve God though with the water Hell-fire were quenched and there were no torments to punish her for sin though with the fire Paradice were consumed and there were no everlasting happiness to reward her Yet methinks though good use may be made of such Hyperbolies they do not so fully speak to a Christian under tryals they teach us how to run but they obscure the Garland they teach us how to shoot but in the mean time take away the mark It s true God is principally to be beloved for himself vix queritur Deus propter deum and so he may be and yet be loved for Heaven We may pray and wrestle against sin for the love of our King and yet have the hope of a Kingdom to be enjoyed after the battel The Doctrine of the Resurrection is the foundation of Religion and he that considers not of the Resurrection of the flesh will hardly be drawn to mortifie the flesh I know no such suggestion in the Bible Sinners Would you deny the lusts of the flesh and the pomp and vanity of the World if there were no Resurrection no Salvation And it s a dangerous temptation to a perplexed conscience to have his sincerity tryed by this touchstone if you can't serve God without a reward in Heaven you are an Hypocrite Vse 3. Is for terror unto two sorts of Workers 1. Evil workers 2. Idle workers 1. To Evil workers Shall the works of Gods Children follow them then by just consequence your evil works your lying your scoffing at Religion shall follow you As righteousness shall follow the righteous so wickedness shall follow the wicked Those that will not now finde out their sins Morientes divitias hic dimittunt peccata sua secum portant their sins shall one day finde out them and judgement shall finde out their sins Even as Destruction said to Pride they being both invited to a Feast contending who should go before and who should follow said Pride Go you before no replyed Destruction I prae sequar Go you before and I will follow after So here impenitency goes before to Hell and the impenitent sinner follows after their sins reached to Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accumulata pervenerunt as one Mountain laid on the top of another the same word as in my Text so one sin follows another until the sinner and his sins meet together in Hell The wicked shall not carry their goods but their evils with them They shall leave
their Estates their Gold behinde them but they shall carry their oppression their guilt with them they shall lie down in their sins and their sins shall rise with them their sins shall go into Hell with them and there stare them in the face here a Regiment of Oathes on the one hand there a Regiment of Lies on the other hand Happy would the wicked be that they could go naked out of this World as free from their sins as of their riches If men shall be condemned for idle words much more for ill works How many will then wish their Blasphemies against the Mediator unprinted and their slanderous Libels against men unpublished to the World when God himself shall read a black Bill or Indictment against them out of every line they wrote and make every Volumn a Fagot to burn and torment them withal and the more Proselites men have gained to their damnable Errors the more additions of Wrath they shall have to all Eternity As Christ said Can men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles So comparing Works to Trees Rewards to Fruits Consider Will thy gall and wormwood ever make pleasant Drink These wilde and sowre Grapes ever yield sweet Wine This ignorance this impenitency these vulgar Oathes and wanton dalliances are these the seed-plot of Heaven the foundation upon which I build my salvation No no my soul as thou brewest so thou must drink as thou sowest so thou must reap Alass how unfruitful have I been in good works how fruitful in evil whilest others have been a praying wretched I have been a cursing while others have spent their time in gathering of Manna to feed their souls I have been gathering of sticks to burn my soul withal I had a season to go into Gods Vineyard the Spirit called Conscience called Providence called but I was idle but I was evil How can I that have so long stood idle and O that I had onely been idle and done nothing look for the peny or that have refused to mortifie a last look for a Crown or for the Harvest of Glory that have neglected my seed time Can I think to finde the living among the dead the Tree of Life out of Paradice Heaven in Hell O that either my works had been according to my profession or my profession according to my works Aut professio secundum opera aut opera secundum professionem When the Saints die they rest from their labors and their works follow them through Free-grace in glorious rewards When the wicked dye they rest from their labours too but their works follow them through Divine Justice into everlasting punishment Thus many may everlastingly rest from their troubles in this world and when they have done so go into a world of everlasting troubles Opera sequuntur bonos persequuntur malos Omnia mala mali secum portant Secondly As it reproves evil so also Idle workers Ah Christians How ready are we to neglect our Watch to give over our Worke to make the affaires of this world our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our main work and the affaires of Heaven our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things by the by Volumus assequi Christum sed non sequi how do we set our affections on things Temporal while wee neglect the things that are Eternal Are we by nature Children of wrath have we seasons offered us for reconciliation and shall we neglect our Souls Pretend the world against God and desperately venture our Salvation upon an Arbritary God upon an it may be we may be saved Do we know already that they that dye in sinnes shall forever live in everlasting burnings and shall we dare live in sinne and goe out of the world in that same state of enmity against God with which we came into this world Is heaven a Kingdome and have we no violence to offer for it Will this be a sufficient Apology for any man to say at last day Lord I never opposed thy wayes when I did not professe them I did not despise the offers of grace though I did neglect them Have you any greater work to do in the world then to looke after the glorifying of God and the salvation of your souls I must acknowledge that in the first work of Grace we are rather Passive than Active for ut Deus operatur in nobis ut accedamus ita operatur ne decedamus and that without the influence of Omnipotency wee can doe nothing but undoe our selves and that when wee have done all wee can wee must say not in a Jesuitical Complement but really we are unprofitable servants yet our impotency contracted and nourished by our selves excuseth not but aggravates our weakness though we can't create the breath of the Spirit yet cannot we hang out our sails to entertain it though we cannot make the Pool of Bethesdah the ordinances of God effectual for our cure yet cannot we come and lay our selves at the Pool to wait the motion of the Angel Is it not our duty to pray for as well as to pray in the Spirit Because God worketh in us both to will and to do shall we therefore sit still and not work out our salvation with fear and trembling might not we have done more for our souls then we have done Doth God compel us to run to a Tavern when we should go to Church Is it no burthen to be a Pack-horse and Drudge to the Divel and yet it is a burthen to be a servant a free-man a Son of God Will it not be a greater trouble to suffer hereafter the will of God Go ye cursed then now it is to do his will Believe and repent Non posse pretendiditur cum nolle est in causa My Beloved No work no reward no holiness no Heaven roundly and plainly as 't was said in another case either turn or burn Do and live is Evangelical Language as well as Legal Do on Earth or suffer in Hell Finde out a new Heaven if you can for you shall never finde out a new way to the old if ever you go before to Heaven your works must follow you Si non vertamus verba in opera Deus vertet verba in verbera If we turn not our words into works God will turn our words into blows It was the trouble of a Martyr when he was led to the stake that he was now going to that place where he should receive wages but do no work Vse 4. Is for comfort to the godly and holy Your works of goodness shall follow you not your sins Pharaoh followed Israel to the Red-sea and there he left them the Pilot follows the Merchant-man to the Harbors mouth and there leaves him That busie Divil that now prosecutes you from one Ordinance to another with his temptations that envious World that now persecutes you from one place to another with reproaches and revilings shall then prosecute and persecute you no more farewell troubles and tryals farewell hardness of heart
and unprofitableness under the means of Grace and that for ever Remember Christians that Death that is a Trap door to let some down into hell shall be a Portal or Gate to let you into heaven That that stroke of the King of terrors that shall separate your souls from your bodies shall separate sin likewise from you souls Your sorrowes now are mixt with your joyes your darknesse with your light you have indeed some rest while you labour how full then will your rest be when you shall rest from your labours and work no more this is your day of working hereafter is your day of rewarding this is your seed-time hereafter is your harvest Si Deus tam bonus sequentibus quam bonus fuerit consequentibus though here you sigh and mourn yet hereafter you shall sing and rejoyce though here you are as Pearles hid in and besmeared with durt yet hereafter you shall shine as the Sun Then you shall see the fruit of the travels of your souls then you shall not repent of your mortification and repentance Then finally will it appear that that man is happier that hath had Saint Pauls Coat with his heavenly graces then the Purple Robes of Princes with all their Kingdomes Fifthly By way of Advice to all That they may so carry themselves while they live that their works may gloriously follow them when they die To which purpose First Bee importunate at the Throne of Grace that ye may be made the workmanship of God which you must be before you can do the work of God Fiamus opus Dei ut facimus opus Dei your natures must be renewed before you can doe new actions A bad man can never Theologically do good works morally he may but he that doth a moral work only shall have a moral reward only as the wheele turns round not to the end it may be made round But on the contrary as the stemms must first be grafted on the stock before they can bring forth fruit so we must be Branches in Christ united to and made one with him before we can be fruitful in good works The Church in the Canticles is described no where by the beauty of her hands or fingers though oft by the beauty of other parts of her body because a Christian should abound in good works and yet in silence without boasting Or Secondly because it is Christ alone that works all our works in us and Grace is not our Creature but the manufacture of Christ Bona opera non praecedunt Justificandum sed sequntur Justificatum Secondly If you would have your good works to follow you send them before you Now Repent now Believe and hereafter you shall have the reward of your Repentance and of your Faith and as for Charity part with that you cannot keep that you may obtain that you cannot lose When the world shall leave you your good works shall follow you your gracious actions your good works are an inexhaustible fountain that shall never be dryed up a durable spring that shall never fail they are acts of time short in performance yet eternal in their recompence Non transeunt opera nostra sicut transire videntur sed velut aeternitatis semina jaciuntur Though they are sown in this world they shall spring in the next that which you lay out for Christ on earth you lay up for your selves in Heaven the hand of the poor is the Treasury the Gazophylacium of Christ and by charity in a Gospel sense you make your Maker your Debter and surely if thou be the Creditor of the Almighty it will not be long ere he come out of thy Books How foolish are they that fear to lose their wealth by giving it and fear not to lose themselves by keeping it He that lays up his Gold may be a good Jailor but he that lays it out is a good steward Merchants traffick thither with a commodity where 't is precious in regard of scarcity We do not buy Wines in England to carry them to France Spices in France to carry them to the Indies so for labor and work repentance and mortification there is none of them in Heaven there is Peace and Glory and the favor of God indeed Their works in my Text go with them they dare not go without their fraught A Merchant without his Commodity hath but a sorry wellcome God will ask men that arrive at Heaven Gates ubi opera Rev. 22.12 His reward shall be according to our works Thou hast riches here and here be objects that need thy riches the poor in Heaven there are riches enough but no poor therefore by faith in Christ make over to them thy monies in this world that by Bill of Exchange thou mayest receive it in the world to come that onely you carry with you which you send before you Do good while it is in your power relieve the oppressed succor the fatherless while your Estates are your own when you are dead your riches belong to others one light carryed before a man is more serviceable then twenty carryed after him In your compassion to the distressed or for pious uses let your hands be your Executors and your eyes your Overseers and that I may not be mistaken let your Charity have these two Qualifications 1. Let your works be done in Faith as without works we cannot profit men so without Faith we cannot please God we must be marryed to Christ or our children are not Legitimate our works are not right All our surviving out of the Ark will not save us from the deluge of Gods wrath As Isaac said to Abraham Father here is the Altar and the wood but where is the sacrifice so at last day when you shall knock at Gods door and seek to enter and hold up your Lamps and cry Lord we are Virgins we are Christians we were hospitable and charitable according to thy command let our neighbors be witnesses of our good works but will the Lord reply True here are your duties and your works but where is my grace of Faith Are these a satisfaction to my Justice where is my Benjamin the righteousness of my Son to plead for you My Beloved There seems to be less glory in Faith then in any other Grace it seemed but a sorry Grace a Grace of no great vertue Holiness is acceptable because it honors God Charity is noble because it profits men Thankfulness is melodious because its the tune of Angels Other works seem to make God a Debter to give as it were something to God but ad quid fides What is Faith good for Yes it is good for every good purpose it s the root of all the Graces it s the richest Grace because its the inriching Grace if Faith go before Works will follow Vbi Christus non est boni operis fundamentum ibi nullum est bonum aedificium 2. As works of Charity must be qualified with Faith or else our haec ego
feci haec ego feci this and that have I done are but faeces dregs as Luther saith aptly so they must be qualified with sincerity while the peny is in the hand let Gods glory be in the heart Your lights must shine so that men seeing your good works may glorifie God but not that men should see your works and glorifie you and cry you up and down There goes a charitable man there goes a great worker Men judge of the heart by the work but God judgeth of the work by the heart At the Judgement Bar it will be no excuse before God if the matter of the work be ill to plead the goodness of the heart to say Though I was a common Blasphemer of thy name a common neglecter of holy duties yet I had an honest heart so when the heart is naught there is no pleading before God the goodness of the work you fasted and professed and were charitable Will the Lord say as he did to the Jews but was it for my Glory for the exaltation of my name out of the sense of my love Cains works had been good if Cains heart had not been evil How sad will it be for some to behold at the last day the mites of others to be received and their own talents rejected the good works of many to leave them and their evil works onely to follow them Christus opera nostra non tam actibus quam finibus pensat 3. Work while you have time to work cast up your accompts before you come to give up your accompts or your accompts will cast up you How vainly do many talk of working for Heaven when they are going from the place of working to the place of rewarding of doing the greatest work to repent to believe when they have least strength to do them of turning their souls to God when they can hardly turn their bodies on their beds Believe it believe it Christians its too much for one man and that at one time to look after a sick soul and a sick body together if ever you would have your works to follow you when dead follow you your works while you live be earnest in self-examination industrious in making your Calling and Election sure like wise Virgins Get not onely lamps into your hands but oyl also into your lamps The Grave is a place for resting from out works not of working for rest The Judgement Bar is a place for the distribution of Justice not for the dispensation of Mercy now or never now if ever work out your salvation get the one thing necessary Surgunt impii non ad judicium sed ad condemnationem The wise man tells us There is no work to be done in the Grave that 's not a shop to work in but a Grave to rest in that 's not a time for the killing of the worm of guilt in our souls when the worms are gnawing and feeding on our bodies God will not send Prophets to the grave nor set up a Pulpit in Hell for the Preaching of salvation to the dead or damned Lastly I might adde Take examples from Gods Oracles and from Providence follow them that have so followed Christ as ever you would have your persons follow Gods servants to glory let your faith love follow their examples that are left behinde on earth FINIS Good Reader IN regard of the known exemplariness of the conversation of this vertuous Lady deceased I am perswaded from arguments brought as to the common good that this her following Character be annexed to my Sermon It is reported of a great man that he had good Intellectuals but bad Morals This honorable Lady had a good head and also the addition of a good heart not to mention her acquaintance with several Languages she was best versed in the Language of Canaan she was able solidly to maintain the controversies of the Church of God against Papists Socinians c. It was her Honor while other Ladies spent their time in reading Romances and painting their faces that she spent her time in reading the Oracles of God and adorning her soul Her private family duties justled not out her publique attendance on Gods Ordinances nor on the contrary some few have hearts but want time most have time but want hearts but as God gave her time so he also gave her a heart to serve him She never thought the Sabbath to be over till the duties of the Sabbath both publique and private were over She was able to comport her self with the highest yet she usually condescended both in discourse and behavior to the lowest and meanest of Gods children She brought forth much fruit and made but a little noise She had much glory by her Face but as Reverend Hall says of Moses in her proportion she had more glory by her vail I never heard she was reconciled to any for indeed I never heard she had an enemy The Ministry have lost a judicious Favorer the Poor a Physician her endeared Husband the best Companion in this troublesome world And that which is the Crown of all she acknowledged the imperfection of her own Duties and the necessity of Christs righteousness To conclude she was of the number of those few that lived and dyed in honour she hath done her work and is gone to sleep FINIS