in his watchings and fastings and sackcloth by them hee overcame flesh and bloud by these he overcame God by them he overcame men by these hee made conquest of himselfe by them he enlarged the territories of Israel by these hee enlarged the bounds of heaven by them he made Hadadezer flye by these he made the Angell put up his sword and God to reverse his sentence by them he did remove temporall evils by these hee did procure everlasting good unto himselfe and others This is that humiliation which this sacred time requires not abstinence onely from meates which pamper this carkasse this is not the body of this fast but a vehement intention of religious duties above other times he that prayed twice a-day before let him now doe it seven times hee that fasted but once in the weeke let him now doe it three times or oftner as his body will permit him though it be to the sicknesse of the body it is an happy sicknesse of the bodie which is the sanity of the soule hee that gave Almes a little let him now double or treble his liberalitie hee that did delight before in recreations let him devote that time to prayer to humiliation doe not our sinnes require this our owne sins the sinnes of others if not our owne miseries for which we blesse God yet doe not the miseries of other Nations the Churches of God require this Doe wee not now beate our breasts and hang downe our heads and rend our hearts and punish our selves for our sinnes that God may not punish them Did not our sins call upon us for this dutie yet is not the sight of God the presence of our Saviour the joyes of Heaven the equalitie with the Angels the glory of a Kingdome worthie a teare a groane a sigh a fast are they now so contemptible or meane that no violence is requisite with what face shall wee appeare before our Saviour at his Tribunall when he shall demand of us his teares his watchings and fastings when he shall say unto us where are my teares are they water spilt upon the ground not to be gathered up Where are my sighes and groanes have they vanished into the ayre where are my watchings what not a teare for so many teares not a fast for so many fasts not a groane for so many miseries which I indured Had I shed but one teare should it not have broken up a fountaine of teares in thee Had I fetched but one sigh should it not have made thy life a perpetuall sigh But when I have done so much for thy sake shall it be lost wilt thou doe nothing for thy owne selfe shall I cast so much seed into the ground and reape nothing againe Oh my beloved what are all our afflictions what are all the afflictions of our selves to the least drop of gall that hee tasted to the least scourge which hee suffered how can we say that either wee loved God or our selves if wee doe not these things in testimonie of this If yee shall not performe these duties it is a small comfort for us that we have freed our soules it is your salvation wee thirst after and say in a better sense then the King of Sodome Danobis animas Give us your soules and without this wee have no comfort wee may be acquitted at the barre of God but wee shall not be crowned in his Throne for what is our crowne but you that heare us but if you shall thus groane as I doubt not but you doe in secret it is not I but God himselfe hath promised that they that sow in teares shall reape in joy that they which mourne here shall be comforted hereafter that they which groane here shall be refreshed in their proper house In this wee groane earnestly desiring to bee cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven Which God of his infinite mercie grant c. FINIS THE CARELESSE MERCHANT OR THE WOFULL LOSSE OF THE PRECIOVS SOVLE LUKE 12. 20. Thou foole this night thy soule shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided DEUT. 4. 9. Take heed therefore to thy selfe and keepe thy soule diligently LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE CARELESSE MERCHANT OR THE WOFVLL LOSSE OF THE PRECIOVS SOULE SERMON XXII MAT. 16. 26. What is a man profited if hee shall gaine the whole world and lose his soule TThe Patriarch Iacob in his vision at Bethel saw the Angels of God ascending and descending Gen. 28. So from the thirteenth verse of this Chapter wee have the Disciples of Christ ascending and descending For first their generall speaker Simon Peter had made a notable confession of our Saviours Divinitie and had received for the further incouragement of himselfe and his brethren such an excellent testimonie from our Saviour that the Angels of heaven might behold and observe and imbrace Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Iona for flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee but my Father which is in heaven and I say thou art Peter and on this rocke will I build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevaile against it Which words were not only appropriate to him they were spoken to him but they were common to all the Apostles For as Origen argues shall we thinke that the gates of hell prevailed not against Peter but did against the rest Therefore that which was said to him was said to all and being such a glorious commendation behold the Angels ascend But secondly what if the earthly minde of man dreame of a Messias temporall and that they must be promoted to places of eminencie and stiled gracious Lords the case is too palpable for if Christ warne his Disciples and tell them of his approaching death at Jerusalem hee shall be sure to meet with a checke no such matter it shall not be so to thee Oh! here is a strange metamorphise a sudden alteration before a Confessor and now a controller there is no wisedome of the spirit in this and therefore no commendation for this but because he was somewhat too forward get thee behind mee for thou art an offence to me behold the Angels descend And surely this carnall wisedome had beene able to weigh them downe to the nethermost hell had not the wisedome of the wisest curbed and subdued and restrayned it What not suffer Yes Peter also must suffer and all that will follow Christ must renounce all the inâ—…icements of the world and mortifie all the corrupt exorbitancies of the flesh and resist all the temptations of the Divell For what is a man profited if hee gaine the whole world and lose his soule Which words are an exaggeration of the wofull estate of a temporizing Professor of a carnall Gospeller and they reach to our consideration these foure generalls First the excellencie and worth of mans soule which is of greater value then the whole world Secondly the possibilitie of the
returneth to her Mothers house the earth but the soule the Bridegroome to his Fathers house the Father of 〈◊〉 in Heaven as both their gests are set forth in this chapter verse 7. the dust returnes to the earth as it was and the spirit to God that gave iâ—… But in the evening of the World at that dreadfull night after which the Angell swore there should bee no more day or time here the soule is given by God to the bodie againe and then the marriage is consummated and both for ever fast coupled and wedded for better for worse to runne one everlasting fortune and to participate either eternall joyes or torments together Thus man is brought to his long home or as the Seventy and Saint Ierome render the Hebrew his house of eternitie and the mourners go about the streets here is a short reckoning of all mankinde like to that of the Psalmist who alluding to the name of the two Patriarches sayth Coll ADAM ABEL All men are altogether vanitie so here upon the foot of the account in Bonaventâ—…res casting all appeare wretched and miserable describitur miseria mortis in morientibus compatientibus all are either dead corpses or sad mourners corpses alreadie dead or mourners for the dead and their courses and motions are two 1 Straite man goeth c. 2 Circular mourners goe about The dead goe directly to their long home the living fetch a compasse and round about the termini of which their motions shall bee the bounds of my discourse at this present Wherein that you may the better discerne my passage from point to point I will set up sixe Posts or standings 1 The Scope 2 Coherence 3 Sense 4 Parts 5 Doctrine 6 Use. The Scope will give light to the Coherence the Coherence to the Sense the Sense to the Parts the Parts to the Doctrine the Doctrine to the Use. Wherefore I humbly entreate the assistance of Gods Spirit with the intention of yours whil'st in unfolding this rich peece of Arras I shall point with the finger to 1 The maine Scope 2 The right Coherence 3 The litterall Sense 4 The naturall Division 5 The generall Doctrine 6 The speciall application of this parcell of holy Scripture First the Scope Although all other Canonicall bookes of this old and new Testament were read in the Church yet as Gregorie Nyssen acutely observes this booke alone is intituled Ecclesiastes the Preacher or Church-man because this alone in a manner tendeth wholy to Ecclesiasticall politie or such a kinde of life or conversation as becometh a Preacher or Church-man For the prime scope of this booke is to stirre up all religious mindes to set forth towards Heaven betimes in the morning of our dayes Chap. 12. verse 1. Remember thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth to enter speedily into a strict course of holinesse which will bring us to eternall happinesse to dedicate to God and his service the prime in both senses that is the first and best part of our time For as in a glasse of distilled water the purest and thinnest first runneth out and nothing but lees and mouther at the last so it is in our time and age Optima queque dies miseries mortalibus â—…vi prima fluit Our best dayes first runne and our worst at the last And shall wee offer that indignitie to the Divine Majestie as to offer him the Devills leavings florem aetat is 〈◊〉 consecrâ—…re faecem Deo reservarâ—… to consecrate the toppe to the Devill and the bottome to God feed the flesh with the flower and the spirit with the 〈◊〉 serve the world with our strength and our Creatour with ouâ—… weaknesse give up our lusty and able members as weapons 〈◊〉 sâ—…nne and our feeble and weake to righteousnesse Will God accept the blinde and the lame the leane and the withered for a sacrifice How can we remember our Creatour in the dayes of our age when our memorie and all other faculties of the soule are decaied How shall wee beare Christs yoake when the Grashopper is a burthen unto us when wee are not able to beare our selves but bow under the sole waight of age What delight can wee take in Gods service when care and feare and sorrow and paine and manifold infirmities and diseases wholy possesse the heart and dead all the vitall motions and lively affections thereof Old men are a kinde of Antipodes to young men it is evening with them when it is morning with these it is Autumne in their bodies when it is Spring in these the Spring of the yeare to decrepâ—…t old men is as the Fall Summer is Winter to them and Winter death it is no pleasure to them to see the Almond-tree flourish which is the Prognosticatour of the Spring or the Grashopper leape and sing the Preludium of Summer for they now minde not the Almond-tree but the Cypresse nor thinke of the Grashopper but of the worme because they are far on in their way to their long home and the mourners are already in the streets marshalling as it were their troops and setting all in equipage for their funerall no dilectable objects affect their dull and dying sences but are rather grievous unto them as the Sunne and Raine are to old stumpes of trees which make them not spring againe but rot them rather and dispose them to putrifaction And so I have past the first and am come to the second Post or standing The right Coherence When they shall be afrayd of that which is high and feare shall be in the way and the Almod-tree shall flourish and the Grashoper shall bee a burthen and desire shall faile because man goeth to his long home If this Consequence be firme the Coherence must needs bee good but if this bee infirme and lame that must needes bee out of joynt let us then consider of the Consequence Surely Aristotle seemeth to bee of another minde whose observation it is old men that have their foot on Deaths threshold would then draw backe their legge if they could and at the very instant of their dissolution are most desirous of the continuance of their life and seeing the pleasures of sâ—…e like the Apples of Tantaâ—… running away from them they catch at them the more grâ—…dily for want is the 〈◊〉 one of dâ—…ire and experience offereth us many instances of old men in whâ—… Saint 〈◊〉 growes young againe who according to the corruption of nature which Saint Austin bewaileth with teares â—…alunt libidiâ—…em expleri quam exâ—…gui they are so faâ—…re from having no lust or desire of pleasures as being cloyed there with that they are more insatiable in them then in youth the flesh in them is like the Peacockes quae â—…ctarecrudescit which after it is sod in time will grow raw again so in them after mortification by diseases and age it reviveth Sophocles the Heathen Poet might passe for a Saint in comparison of them for hee
wit some red flower as well as white yet the Crowne and Garland of all Confessours are compleat And therefore not onely Beda and Bernard and Richardus and Andreus and Primasius and Haymo and Ansbertus and Ioachimus but also the Greeke and the Roman Church yea and the reformed also understand these words of all that dye in Gods favour for they read these words at the Funeralls of all the dead and not onely at the Funeralls of Martyrs Yea but how can any bee sayd to dye in the Lord that is continuing his Member sith Christ hath no dead Members I answer that the faithfull dye not in the Lord in that sense in which they live in him but in another they die not spiritually nor cease to bee his mysticall Members but naturally that is they continuing in Christs faith and love breathe out their souies and so fall asleepe in his bosome or dye in his love laying hold of him by faith and relying on him by hope and embracing him by charitie All they dye in the Lord who die in the act of contrition as Saint Austin who reading the penetentiall Psalmes with many teares breathed out his last gaspe sighing for his sinnes Or in the act of charitie as Saint Ierome who in a most fervent or vehement exhortation to the love of God gave up the ghost Or in the act of Religion as Saint Ambrose who after he had received the blessed Sacrament in a heavenly rapture and a holy parley with Christ left the body Or in the act of Devotion as Aquinas who lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven pronouncing with a loude voyce those words of the Spouse in the Canticles Come my beloved let us goe forth went out of this world Or in the Act of gratulation and thankes-giving as Petrus Celestinus who repeating that last verse of the last Psalme Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum Let every breath or every one that hath breath praise the Lord breathed out his soule Or in an Act of divine contemplation as Gerson that famous Chancellour of Paris who having explicated fiftie properties of divine love concluded both his Treatise and his life with fortis ut mors dilectio Love is strong as death To knit up all six sorts of men may lay just claime to the blessednesse in my Text. First Martyrs for they die in the Lord because they die in his quarrell Secondly Confessours for they die in the Lord because they die in his faith and in the confession of his name Thirdly all they that love Christ and are beloved of him for they die in the Lord because they die in his bosome and embracings Fourthly all truly penitent sinners for they dye in the Lord because they dye in his peace Firthly all they who are engrafted into Christ by a speciall faith and persever in him to the end for they die in the Lord because they die in his communion as being members of his mysticall body Lastly all they that dye calling upon the Lord or otherwise make a godly end for they dye in the Lord because they dye in the workes of the Lord and happy is that servant whom his Master when hee commeth shall find so doing From hence-forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza and some other render the word in the originall perfectly because the dead obtaine the blessednesse they hoped for but this Exposition cannot stand unlesse wee restraine this blessednesse to the soule For the perfect and consummate happinesse of all that die in the Lord consisteth in the glorification of their bodyes and soules when they shall see God face to face and the beames of his countenance directly falling upon the soule shall reflect also upon the body and most true it is which Paraeus observeth the deads blessednesse farre exceedes the blessednesse of the living for here wee have but the first fruits of happinesse but in heaven wee shall have the whole lumpe here wee hunger and thirst for righteousnesse there wee shall be satisfied To this we all willingly assent but it will not hence follow that they have their whole lumpe of happinesse till the day of Judgement Blessed they are from the houre of their death but not perfectly blessed but not consummatly blessed intensive as blessed as the soule by it selfe can be for that state in which it now is not blessed extensive not so blessed as the whole person shall be when the soule shall bee the second time given to the body and both bid to an everlasting feast at the mariage of the Lambe Others therefore more agreeable to the Analogie of faith render the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from hence-forth and referre the hence-forth not to the time of the uttering this Prophecie as if before it none were blessed for before this prophecie all the Apostles Saint Iohn only excepted and thousands of Saints and Martyrs had died in the Lord and were at rest from their labours but to the instant of their dying in the Lord they no sooner lost their lives for Christ then they found happinesse in him So soone as Lazarus dyed his soule was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome So soone as the Thiefe expired on the Crosse hee aspired to Paradise and was with Christ So Nazianzen teacheth concerning every religious soule I beleeve saith he that every noble soule which is in grace and favour with God presently as soone as shee hath shaken off the body which kept downe her wings flyeth joyfully streight up to her Lord and Saint Cyprian Death to the godly is not a departure but a passe from a temporall to an eternall life and no stay by the way as soone as we have finished our course here we may arrive at the goale there And S. Bernard The infidels call the parting of the soule from the body Death but the beleevers call it the Passeover because it is a passe from death to life For they die to the world that they may perfectly live to God To strike sayle and make toward the shore if all that dye in the Lord are blessed from the very moment of their death and this blessednesse is confirmed by a voyce from heaven let us give more heed to such a voyce then to any whisper of the flesh or divell Whatsoever Philosophie argueth or Reason objecteth or sense excepteth against it let us give more heed to God then man to the spirit then the flesh to faith then to reason to heaven then to earth although they who suffer for the testimonie of the Gospell seeme to be most miserable their skinnes being fleyed off their joynts racked their whole body torne in peeces or burned to ashes their goods confiscate their armes defaced and all manner of disgraces put upon them yet they are most happy in heaven by the testimonie of heaven it selfe the malice of their enemies cannot reach so high as heaven it cannot touch them there there much lesse awake them out of their
judgement Abrahams Purchase Page 385. GEN. 23. 4. I am a stranger and sojourner among you give me a Possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Gods esteeme of the death of his Saints Page 401. PSAL. 116. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints The desire of the Saints after immortall glory Page 415. 2 COR. 5. 2. For in this wee groane earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven The carelesse Merchant Page 437. MAT. 16. 26. What is a man profited if he shall gaine the whole world and lose his soule Christs second Advent Page 449. Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his workes The Saints longing for the great Epiphanie Page 467. TITVS 2. 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. Lifes Apparition and Mans Dissolution Page 481. IAMES 4. 14. For what is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away Saiâ—… Pauls Trumpet Page 499. ROM 13. 11. And that knowing the time that now it is higâ—… time to awake out of sleepe Tâ—… 〈◊〉 manâ—… resting place Page 51â—… GEN. 15. 1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward The righteous Iudge Page 335. IAM 2. 12. So speake yee and so doe as they that shall be judged by the law of libertie Sinnes stipend and Gods munificence Page 555. ROM 6. 23. For the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. The profit of afflictions Page 571. HEB. 12. 10. For they verily for a few dayes chastened us after their owne pleasure but hee for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse Spirituall Hearts-ease Page 591. IOHN 14. 1. 2. 3. 1 Let not your hearts be troubled beleeve in God beleeve also in me 2 In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I goe to prepare a place for you 3 And if I goe to prepare a place for you I will come againe and receive you unto my selfe that where I am there you may be also Faiths Triumph over the greatest trialls Page 611. HEB. 11. 17. By faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up his sonne Isaack and hee that had received the promise offered up his onely begotten Sonne The Priviledge of the Faithfull Page 627. I PET. 3. 7. As heires together of the grace of life Peace in Death Page 643. LVKE 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word The vitall Fountaine Page 693. IOHN 11. 25 26. 25. Iesus said unto her I am the resurrection and the life he that beleeveth in me though he were dead yet shall he live 26 And whosoever liveth and beleeveth in me shall never die Death in Birth Page 713. GEN. 35. 19. And Rachel died The death of Sinne and life of grace Page 727. ROM 6. 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to bee deadunto sin bâ—…t alive unto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Hopes Anchor-Hold 751. I COP 15. 19. If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable The Platforme of Charitie Page 769. GAL. 6. 10. As we have therefore opportunity let us doe good to all especially to them that are of the housâ—…ould of faith Death prevented Page 799. IOB 14. 14. All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come Iter novissimum or Man his last Progresse Page 817. FCCLESIAST 12. 5. Man goeth to his long home and the mourners goe about the streetes Tempus putationis or the ripe Almond gathered Page 835. GEN. 15. 15. And thou shalt goe to thy Fathers in peace thou shalt be buried in a good old age Io Paean or Christs Triumph over death Page 847. I COR. 15. 55. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Fato Fatum The King of Feares frighted Page 859. HOS 13. 14. O Death I will be thy plagues Vox Coeli The Deads Herauld Page 869. APOC. 14. 13. And I heard a voyce from Heaven saying unto me write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth c. Victoris Brabaeum or The Conquerors Prize Page 881. APOC. 14. 13. So saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their workes follow them Faith's Eccho or the Soules AMEN REVEL 22. 19. AMEN Even so come Lord Iesus The end of the TABLE The ERRATA PAge 825. line 15. read not posse p. 826. l. 30. r. summe p. 841. l. 4. r. â—…ror p. 839 put out the promise of p. 842. l. 29. r. Gibiline in marg r. hominis ultimam resurrectionem p. 843. l. 14. r. the Goats p. 846. in Marg. r. Poâ—…id p. 150. l. 34. r. â—…raines p. 853. l. 33. r. Anacreon p. 860. in marg r. â—…s venenati p. 870. l. 4. r. Emines p. 874. l. 44. r. nullas p. 879. l. 24. r. Lapide p. 885 l. 15. r. immunitie p. 886. l. 10. r. actually p. 887. l. 18. r. Hell p. 889. l. 13. r. can be in Marg. r. qui assignat singulos domicilio infra regno 〈◊〉 p. 891. l. 12. r. import no leâ—…e p. 892. l. 22. r. faithfull p. 894. l. 14. r. Eurypum Eurypuâ—… THE STEVVARDS SUMMONS OR THE DAY OF ACCOVNT MAT. 25. 19. After a long time the Lord of those servants commeth and reckoneth with them ROM 14. 12. So then every one of us shall give account of himselfe to God LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabb 1639. THE STEWARDS SVMMONS SERMON I. LVKE 16. 2. Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou maist bee no longer Steward IN the Chapter going before our blessed Lord and Saviour had preached the Doctrine of the free grace of God in the remission of sinne and receiving of repenting and returning sinners in the parable of an indulgent Fathers receiving of a prodigall Sonne The Pharisees were a people that hardned their owne hearts and scoffed at every thing that Christ delivered therefore now in this Chapter hee commeth to summon and warne them to appeare before God the great Master of the world to give an account of their stewardship that by the consideration of Gods proceeding in the day of judgement they might know the better how to prize the remission of sinnes in the day of grace This hee doth by presenting to them a Parable of a certaine rich man that had a steward who was accused unto him that hee had wasted his goods calleth him to an account and to the end that the Pharisees might not thinke that it was a matter to be jeasted withall and that such considerations as these were to
be slighted hee telleth them how the unjust steward having receiued this summons and warning from his Master that hee must come to a reckoning hee forthwith for his owne temporall good casteth about that hee may the better be fitted to give up his account thereby teaching them and in them all the world that if this steward here for his owne temporall benefit was thus carefull to prepare himselfe how much more should they and every one bee carefull to prepare themselves for that great day of account wherein God will come to judge the world and bring to light all things that are hid in darknesse In these words yee have two things considerable A Narration An Application of the Parable The Narration is twofold Of the Persons Proceeding Of the Persons in the first verse A Rich man and his steward Of the proceeding in the second verse the Rich man upon the information made against his steward that hee had wasted his goods calleth him to an account Give an account of thy stewardship for thou maist bee no longer steward The steward in the third and fourth verses upon this summons falleth first to consult and after to resolve as wee shall see afterward In this verse then that I have read you see here is first the Summons or warning Give an account Secondly the reason of that Summons for thou mayest bee no longer Steward The day is ended now give an account of thy worke thou must goe out of thy office now give an account how thou hast behaved thy selfe in thy office thou must be no longer steward therefore give an account of thy stewardship In the first the Summons and calling of this Steward to an Account yee have cleerely offered to yee these two propositions Considerations or Conclusions First That every man in the world is Gods steward Secondly That every one of Gods stewards must bee brought to a reckoning First I say Every man in the world is Gods steward If yee aske me who it is that is here called a Steward The text tels yee that it is he that must give an account to his Master If you aske me who is the Master It is God If then God be the Master and if every man must give an account and reckoning to God then every man is the Steward here intended in this Text. That every man must give a reckoning to God it appeareth 2 Cor. 5. 10. Wee must all appeare before the judgement seat of Christ to give an account of the things wee have done in this life whether they bee good or evill All men That which is here expressed by the Apostle in plaine termes All men Is more parrabollically and obscurely expressed by Christ in this word Steward Give an account of thy stewardship So that the Conclusion remaineth cleare and is directly gathered from the text That every man in the world is Gods steward There is no man or woman in the world but in some respect or other is the steward here that must be called to an account That every man is a Steward will appeare if wee consider two things First what every man receiveth from God Secondly what God expects from every man Man receiveth from God that which a Steward doth from his Lord. God expects from every man that which a Lord expects from his Steward First I say man receiveth from God that which a steward doth from his Master That is such goods such abilities as whereby hee may be of use for such a place as the Master shall set him in the familie All the world is but Gods great familie all the fittings and endowments of men are the talents the gifts that God hath intrusted men with some have the gifts of the world riches and places of authoritie these are gifts committed to those kind of stewards Others have the gifts of the body as health and strength their senses and lives and the like these are gifts committed to these kind of stewards others have the gifts of the mind understanding and wisdome and policie and to all these some have spirituall graces According as men are furnished with these gifts and according to their severall qualifications with these endowments they all receive them from God as stewards Secondly if wee consider what God expects from men he expects that which a Lord doth from his Steward First that they acknowledge him to be the chiefe to acknowledge that they hold all from him that they have it not from themselves or for themselves this is that which every Master expects from him to whom hee committeth his treasure And this would God have all men doe God speakes that truly that Benhadad spake proudly and falsly to the King of Israel thy silver is mine and thy gold is mine and thy daughters and wives are mine and thy vineyards and thy orchards are mine So may God say truly All are his the Earth saith David is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof Hee is the great possessiour of all things God as hee possesseth all things so hee letteth out parcels of his possessions to the sonnes of men To some a larger portion of the earth then to others yet they are but Tenants at will and Tenants upon certaine conditions and reservations wherein this great Lord bindeth those that hold any thing of him And the first Condition or reservation that hee ties all his stewards unto is this that they waste not his goods that they scatter them not abroad vainly or unprofitably Now a man that hath riches if hee releeveth not the poore a man that hath authoritie and helpeth not the oppressed a man that hath wisedome and instructeth not the ignorant In a word A man that hath any abilities if hee be not of use unto others with it this man scattererh his Masters goods and is like that unprofitable servant that hid his Talent in a napkin and therefore was bound hand and foot and cast into utter darknesse This was the accusation that was brought against this steward here that hee had wasted the goods of his Lord that is that hee had spent them vainly he was no honour to his Master there came no profit to the houshold by it That 's the first The second thing that this great Lord expects of all his stewards is that as they doe not scatter his goods nor vainly waste them so that they should not abuse them to ill ends There are a generation of men in the world that fight against God with his owne weapons and that use all their strength and wisdome and power to maintaine a faction of rebellion against him that side with the wicked of the world against his lawes and ordinances and this is the greatest unthankfulnesse that can bee If a king should raise a servant to honour and bestow offices and dignities upon him and yet if hee should raise an Armie against him and set himselfe against all his lawes what greater unthankfulnesse
change more then wee looked for for as I said his disease seized on him with such violence and extremitie that he had no space for any thing but to pray us to pray with him and for him That which wee may learne from such examples as these is this That wee therefore bee good stewards in the time of our life Wee know not what violent sicknesse may seize upon us and how it may dis-inableus to expresse our selves to men or to set our reckonings even with God Bee serious therefore in the point while you have health and strength All of you are now called to a reckoning by the preaching of the Word and Gospell if this will not prevaile expect another calling by sicknesse by terrours of conscience by death You are not sure but that the next calling may bee by death as it was with this our brother let mee put this therefore as a remembrance to every one of you that you behave your selves as dying daily Remember thou art a Steward and must give an account of thy stewardship Alexander had his Remembrancer Saint Ierome had another Remembrancer Whether I eate or drinke saith hee or whatsoever I doe mee thinkes I heare the voyce of the last trumpet and of the Arch-Angell Arise you dead and come to judgement Let mee now bee thy Remembrancer Remember thou art a Steward and that thou must bee called to an account of thy stewardship When thou art in holy duties remember thou must give an account with what strength thou servest God When thou art in businesse in thy familie remember thou must give an account how thou hast walked toward thy servants toward thy children toward them that God hath given thee Thou that hast an estate remember that thou must give an account to the great Lord of the getting and of the spending of that estate Thou that art in places of authoritie over others remember thou must give an account how thou commest to them how thou hast behaved thy selfe in them Let every one remember that hee must give an account of what service hee hath done to his Master of what use hee hath beene unto God and what to others The more God hath beene glorified and others benefited the more shall our soules be comforted at that great day of appearance when the least smile of GODS countenance will bee worth a thousand worlds and the testimonie of a good conscience will bee preferred before all the treasures of the Earth FINIS THE PRAISE OF MOVRNING OR MOVRNING PREFERRED BEFORE MIRTH. I KING 14. 18. And they buried him and all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the Lord which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Prophet ECCLES 2. 2. I said of laughter thou art madde and of mirth what doth it LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE PRAISE OF MOVRNING OR MOVRNING PREFERRED BEFORE MIRTH. SERMON II. ECCLESIASTES 7. 2. It is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart IN the former Chapter the Wise man had beene shewing the vanitie and insufficiencie of all earthly things to make a man happie and how much the world is mistaken in seeking happinesse in any thing here below In this Chapter and those that follow he commeth to direct men in the right way to find it and sheweth them where they should seeke it and where they should finde it First he telleth them of a good name in the first verse A good name is better then precious ointment The second meanes is a good death the day of death is better than the day of ones birth The third is a right mourning it is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting Afterward he proceedeth to other particulars But this he bringeth in upon the former to prevent an objection that some might make for having said that the day of death is better then the day of ones birth some might object What goodnesse can there be in death as for those that are dead they cease to be and they that are alive reape no benefit by it but mourning and there is little good little happinesse in this to exercise a mans thoughts about mournfull objects Yes saith he it is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting 〈◊〉 the living will lay it to his heart And upon this he spendeth some time because naturally we are exceeding backward to beleeve that it is good for a man to be mourning upon earth Others make the dependance of the words thus That Solomon having before shewed the vaniâ—…ie of riches he doth in the six former verses of this Chapter preferre even death it selfe before wealth 〈◊〉 abundance And he sheweth wherein it is better First in the Adjuncts The Adjunct of death is mourning the Adjunct of wealth and abundance is feasting yet mourning is better then feasting And because it seemeth a Parradox to every naturall man he commeth to confirme and prove it By the Effects In the third verse Sorrow is better then laughter for by the sadnesse of the countenance the heart is made better Sorrow can doe that for us that wealth cannot it makes the heart better By the different subjects in which they are That same worldly mirth is in the heart of fooles In the fourth verse the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth but this mourning it is in the heart of the wise the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning By the Efficient cause One cause of mourning is the rebukes of the wise In the fifth verse It is better to heare the rebukes of the wise then for a man to heare the song of fooles And then in the sixth verse by a Prolepsis he prevents an objection that some might make For whereas he had said that mourning was better then joy some might say It seemeth otherwise there is delight in joy there is none in mourning Hee telleth them that that delight it is but a very short delight but as the cracking of thornes under a pot it is but vanitie As the cracking of thornes under a pot so is the laughter of a foole this also is vanitie We will not stand much about the matter So many severall men as handle this booke doe severally connect and joyne the words together according to their owne conceits and opinions of them It is evident that in this verse that I have now read to you the Wise man speakes of such a mourning as is occasioned by the death of friends And he saith of that mourning that it is better then to bee in the house of feasting That he speakes of such a mourning appeares by that which followeth first he saith that that is the end of all men he speakes therefore of such a mourning as is upon the end of men upon
doth not bethinke how he is armed If God have fitted his servants for death he hath done most for them if they have not riches yet they are fit for death if they have not an estate amongst men it mattereth not a whit if they be fit for Death if they be miserable here in torments and sicknesse when others have health it is no matter all these increase their repentance makes them labour for Faith and Hope and Charitie whereby they are armed against Death Nothing can save us from the hurt of Death but the Lord Jesus Christ put on by Faith and that furnished with Hope and Charitie If God give a man other things and not these graces Death is not destroyed to him But if he deny him other things and give him these graces he doth enough for him Death is destroyed to him His body indeed falleth under the stroake of Death as other mens but his soule is not hurt Death layeth him a rotting as the common sort but the soule goeth to the possession of glory and remaineth with Christ When hee is absent from the body hee is present with the Lord. Nay when the last day shall come Death shall bee utterly swallowed up then the poore and fraile and weake body that sleepeth in corruption and mortalitie shall bee raised in honour and in immortall beautie and glory a spirituall body free from all corporall weaknesses that accompany the naturall body it shall be made most glorious and blessed even as if it were a spirit all the weaknesses that accompany the naturall beeing of the body shall be taken away and it shall enjoy as much perfection as a body can and therefore it is called spirituall Therefore I beseech you rejoyce in the Lord if your soules tell you that you are armed against this death FINIS THE VVORLDS LOSSE AND THE RIGHTEOVS MANS GAINE EZEKIEL 22. 30. I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before mee for the Land but I found none therefore have I poured forth my indignation upon them PHIL. 1. 21. For to mee to live is Christ and to die is Gaine LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE WORLDS LOSSE AND THE RIGHTEOVS MANS GAINE SERMON VIII ISAIAH 57. 1. And mercifull men are taken away none considering that the Righteous is taken away from the evill to come WHen I first began this verse I did never thinke that all things would have beene so sutable to the finishing of it as now I find they are For there is no circumstance that can be required to make a correspondencie betweene a former and a latter handling but is to be found in the two surveies I tooke upon this Text. The occasion of handling it now is the same that was before I began it at a Funerall and now at another Funerall I shall end it The place of handling the same as it was before I began the former part of the verse in this very street at the other end of it Now I shall finish it at this And the time it is the same and every way answerable to that it was before It was begun in a time of Mortalitie feared and now will be finished in a time of mortalitie certaine And that there should be no part of correspondencie wanting this latter part of the verse is answerable to the former it is but the same againe in other words In the former part there is mention of the righteous man here of the mercifull man they are both one In that hee is said to perish here to bee taken away they are both the same There No man is said to lay it to heart and here no man is said to consider it Both the same So that loke upon the whole both parts joyne together they walke on by paires two and two as the living creatures into the Arke Male and Female The first paire sets forth to you the state and condition of a godly man he is righteous and mercifull those are the male and female of Pietie The second sets forth to you the state and condition of a dying man hee perisheth and is taken away those are the Male and Female of death The third sets out the state and condition of a worldly man he layes it not to heart he never takes it into consideration those are the Male and Female of carnall securitie And that all the paires should now be made up the former part was handled at the buriall of a good old Man this latter now at the buriall of an old and verteous Gentlewoman those are the Male and Female of nature The former part that is a complaint that the Prophet made and so is the second and this second is set as a Commentarie to the first this latter part is as Eve created as a helpe to Adam for every word in this latter helpes to expound some word in the former The first word in the latter part tells us of the mercifull man that is the Exposition of the first word in the former part the righteus man Lest any man should make question who this righteous man was that the Prophet speakes of how we should know him and define him and find him find me a mercifull man and hee is truly a righteous man The second word in the latter part is taken away that hath reference to the second word in the former and it is a qualification of the harshnesse of the former there it is said The righteous man perisheth but lest any man should scandal at this word shall we thinke that he perisheth whose life it hid with Christ in God Shall the Scripture say that hee perisheth whose name is in the bundle of life written in heaven To lay aside therefore the rigour of the word here is the Qualification hee is taken away The third word of the latter hath reference to the third of the former too No man considereth it If any man aske the reason how it comes to passe that people should be without naturall affection that they take it not to heart that they are not grieved for Ioseph that they are not striken with any sense of their owne losses what should be the reason of it The reason is in this word they take it not into consideration They trouble not their heads and therefore not their hearts with it That it may make an aggravation of that They were so farre from taking of it to heart that they never propounded it to the examination and scanning of their judgement they consider it not So every word in the latter part is serviceable to the first I shewed concerning the first part who this Righteous man is how great the dignation of the Spirit of God is that hee will stile holy men that are so imperfect in holinesse yet because of their holy endeavours to walke in the wayes of God blamelesly the Spirit stiles them Righteous men Secondly I shewed how this Righteous
hee wrote from immoderate sorrow for them that were departed this life revealeth to them certaine comfortable truths concerning the Resurrection from the dead telling them that death it selfe is but as a sleepe whence they shall be raised at the last day by the voyce of the Archangell c. In the beginning of this Chapter hee prevents an objection that some might make For having fallen upon the discourse of the Resurrection hee well knew the curiositie of mans nature that leaves those things that are most profitable to enquire after such things that God hath hid and therfore some men might say Since there shall be such a time and such a change when will those times and seasons be When shall that great day of the Resurrection come when all shall bee brought together Of the times and seasons brethren saith the Apostle yee have no need that I write unto you verse 1. As if hee should say this is no needfull no necessarie thing for you to enquire into or for mee to tell you rather let us fall upon those things that are necessarie and usefull for neither you nor I can tell the particular time when that shall be yet know this that very suddenly such a time shall come and that when the world least thinkes of it The suddennesse hereof he setteth downe by a twofold comparison First by the comming of a thiefe in the night Your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so commeth as a theefe in the nighâ—… verse 2. Secondly by the travaile that commeth upon a woman with child When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction commeth upon them as travaile upon a woman with child and they shall not escape This latter is that I have made choyce of at this time for my Text. A little for the explanation of the words When they shall say peace and safety The Apostle intendeth noâ—… to condemne either the speaking of peace to the children of peace or their rejoycing in that peace they have But that which he condemneth is that they cry peace to themselves whom God denounceth warre against Men that goe on in a course of sinning and in securitie and yet will perswade themselves that all shall be well with them in the end these are the men upon whom Death shall come thus suddenly and upon whom the Judgement day shall come thus unexpected When they shall say peace and safety that is when they are living in their sinnes walking on in their rebellions against God and shall yet be flattering themselves that it shall bee well with them notwithstanding this then shall Judgement come upon them then sudden destruction commeth By destruction here he meaneth not the destruction of the body or the soule the destruction of their beeing For the Soule even after the death of the body shall have a beeing and the body also shall be restored againe to its beeing and parts in the resurrection from the dead It were happy for wicked and ungodly men if there should be such a destruction of their beeing as that they should cease to bee any more for then this body the members whereof have beene the servants of sinne should not be tormented in Hell and then this Soule of theirs that hath set all the body on worke in the service of sinne it should not be sensible of that anguish that shall cause gnashing of teeth It were well I say for them if there should be such a destruction it is that which if they might have their desire they would wish above all things in the world But it will not bee such a destruction it shall bee worse with them It shall only be the destruction of their joy and comfort of all their contentments of all those things wherein they solaced and flattered themselves upon earth all these things shall bee destroyed Their riches that fed their lusts shall be destroyed and their company that incouraged them in sinne shall bee destroyed and all things wherein they have delighted themselves here upon earth shall be destroyed the whole earth shall bee burnt with fire before them And beside this that same chearefulnesse of spirrit and that free disposition whereby they incouraged themselves in the wayes of their pride or whatsoever else it was that made them seeme some body on earth all this shall cease and faile them and forsake them There shall be no mirth no wisedome no courage no friends no wealth no houses no apparell nothing to pride and delight themselves in there shall be an utter destruction of all these things Then shall destruction come upon them As paine upon a woman with child This sheweth the manner the kind of their destruction that shall come upon them It shall be first a sudden destruction it shall not give them warning either of the time or place as it falleth out with a woman with child her travell may come upon her in the street at the table when shee is talking c. So shall destruction come suddenly upon them they shall have no more warning then these generall warnings that they have in the preaching of the Word Secondly it shall bee a painfull destruction full of miserie and sorrow as travaile on a woman with a child And then thirdly It shall bee an inevitable destruction such a destruction as they shall never avoide All their wit friends power strength wealth or whatsoever else they have cannot put off the stroke of Judgement that shall come upon them as all the devices a woman hath cannot make her escape her travaile when it commeth So then the meaning of the words are as if the Apostle should have said When wicked and ungodly men in a course of sinne shall crie peace to themselves and flatter themselves in their rebellious courses then shall a sudden a painfull an inevitable destruction of all their comfort of all their props and hopes and helpes fall upon them In the words you have a twofold description First of the state and condition of the men of the world when Christ shall come to Iudgement Hee shall find all the world at rest As the Angell that stood among the myrtle trees spake in the 1 Zachar. 11. Wee have walked to and fro through the earth and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest Hee shall find all the men of the world in peace every man applauding himselfe in some vaine conceit in some hope and confidence or other They shall cry peace Secondly here is the consequent that followeth upon the vaine flatterie of themselves Then shall destruction come upon them And that destruction is farther described and amplified by a comparison taken from a woman with childe to declare the suddainnesse the painfulnesse the unavoidablenesse of it Thus you have the opening of the words Let us now come to the points of instruction that may be raised hence First here you may see and he that runnes may read
whether it be good or bad LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE GREAT TRIBVNALL OR GODS SCRVTINIE OF MANS SECRETS SERMON XIIII ECCLESIAST 12. 14. For God will bring every worke into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be Evill DEath and judgement are two subjects about the meditation of which our thoughts should every day bee conversant wee should every day be thinking of those two dayes Every day upon the day of death because there is no day wherein death may not befall us And every day upon the day of Iudgement because as the day of Death leaveth us so the day of Iudgement findeth us We had an occasion like to this not long since Then you may remember I discoursed of Death considered as an enemie I shewed you what kind of enemie it is it is a common enemie a secret enemie a spirituall enemie Now at this time having the like occasion I thought it not amisse for me to discourse of that that commeth immediatly after Death that is Iudgement The Apostle saith Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed to all men once to die and after Death commeth Iudgement And it is that that Solomon mindeth us of here in the words of my Text which he addeth as a reason to that grave advice he gave in the verse before going Having discoursed at large in this booke concerning the vanity of all earthly things and the vexation among those things that are under the Sunne he telleth us where it is best for us to set up our rest that is in learning that one lesson Feare God and keepe his commandements for this is the totall all that God requireth That we might the rather be stirred up to hearken to this counsell hee telleth us that whether we doe or no the day will come that we shall be called to an account when God will bring every one of us to Iudgement and take a tryall of every worke we have done and of every secret thing whether it be good or evill In handling of these words we have two things in generall that Solomon speakes of First the Person Iudging Secondly the things Iudged The Person Iudging is God And there I will speake First of the Iudge And then of the Iudgement The things that God bringeth to Iudgement and tryall hee telleth us first every worke every thing be it never so secret And then a more particular resolution those things that are good and those things that are evill God will bring every worke to Iudgement and every secret thing whether it bee good or whether it be evill I begin with the Person judging And here first of the Iudge himselfe God shall bring to judgement God essensially meant all the Persons in the God-head Father Sonne and holy Ghost For all concurre in this worke being as the Schoole-men say Opus ad extra It is one of the Externall workes of the Godhead and it is an Axiome in Divinitie that the Externall workes of the Godhead are not to be divided It is true there are certaine internall workes of the Godhead that are said by the Schooles to bee divided incommunicably proper and peculiar to every Person as it is proper to the Person of the Father incommunicably to have his Beeing of himselfe Of the Sonne to be begotten of the Father And it is the property of the Holy Ghost incommunicably to proceed from both But those workes that they call Externall that is those workes by which the power and wisedome of the Godhead are externally made manifest to the creature such as creation preservation redemption those equally and indifferently proceed from all the Persons not from one in parcular but from all in generall and this of Iudgement is one For as they all concurre in the creating of us so they shall in the judging of us all of them shall co-operate together in the executing of justice and mercy Justice in the damnation of the wicked and mercy in the salvation of the godly You will object peradventure that the Scripture seemeth to speake otherwise though Iudgement here be attributed essensially to God in some places it is attributed personally to Christ Hee shall judge the quicke and the dead and therefore oftentimes it is called in the Scripture the Ivdgement seat of Christ as 2 Cor. 5. 10. Againe sometimes this worke of Judging is appropriated to the Saints Know yee not that the Saints shall judge the world 1 Cor. 6. 2. and by and by againe Know you not that we shall judge the Angels verse 3. How shall we reconcile these when it is said Christ and the Saints shall judge I answer This threefold doubt is reconciled by a threefold distinction God is said to judge if wee respect the Authority of Jurisdiction Christ is said to judge if we respect the Promulgation of the sentence The Saints are said to judge if wee respect the Approbation The power and right are equally given to all three Persons but the particular Execution is given to Christ the Approbation of what Christ doth is ascribed to the Saints As at our common Courts of Assize here one is set upon the Bench as Judge and others are joyned in commission with him as Accessories the Judge only pronounceth the sentence and they that sit in Commission with him ratifie and approve his sentence that he pronounceth so at that day Christ shall sit upon his Throne as Iudge the Saints they shall joyne as Commissioners Christ he alone pronounceth the sentence upon every one that is summoned there to the tryall but then his Apostles and Saints that are joyned in commission with him for such honour have all his Saints they shall ratifie and approve and give attestation to the sentence that he pronounceth and say Amen to the condemnation of the wicked So that the difference is easily reconciled and we see how God and Christ and the Saints are said to judge The Authoritie is Gods The Execution Christs The Approbation the Saints The Apostle in Rom. 2. 16. makes the point plaine hee telleth us that God shall judge by Christ In that day God shall judge the secrets of all hearts by Iesus Christ So Christ himselfe Ioh. 5. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all power to the Sonne Hee hath given him power to execute judgement as he is the Sonne of man Why to him For this Reason That his second comming may be in glory to make amends for his first comming in humilitie Christ at his first comming into the world he came meanly and homely at his second comming hee shall come triumphantly and gloriously Before he came like a Lambe then he shall come like a Lyon Before in the forme of a servant then in the forme of a Lord. Before Pilate sate upon the Bench and Christ stood as a malefactour but then Pilate shall stand at the Barre as a Malefactour and
should be an effectuall meanes to make us carefull of holinesse and new obedience so to speake and so to doe as those whose words and actions must be brought to judgement Now that this is so and is intended so and hath prevailed with the servants of God I might prove many wayes I will ranke and order the proofe under these heads First I will shew you how this hath beene a meanes to draw some to the wayes and duties of obedience Secondly how it hath beene the way to direct and guide others in those actions Thirdly how it hath confirmed and strengthened them in those actions and by this we shall see what it should be to us First we shall see how it hath beene a way to draw men to the actions of obedience How are men drawne to bee obedient First they are drawne from their owne sinnes from their owne evill wayes Now the consideration of the judgement to come it hath prevailed and beene used for this purpose to draw men from their sinnes As wee see in Eccles. 11. saith Solomon to the young man Rejoyce now in thy youth it is Ironnically spoken but know saith hee that for these things thou shalt come to judgement That is let this coole thy courage and moderate thy excessive joy know that thou shalt come to judgement Act. 17. 30. Now saith he God calls upon all men every where to repent because hee hath appointed a time in which hee will judge the world Hee calls men to repentance by this argument because hee will judge the world and hath appointed a time for it You know repentance it is nothing else but to forsake our former evills Now he calls them to repentance because he will judge the world and so calls as he drawes men from sinne First he drawes men from the world to God by this You know that even worldly affections hinder men from comming to the obedience of Christ therefore saith the Apostle I account all as dung c Philip. 3. 7. Why because he looked for a Resurrection his thoughts were upon that and saith hee verse 20. our conversation is in heaven from whence wee looke for the Lord Iesus Christ. Therefore we are drawne to this holy course of obedience because we looke for Christ from heaven And then againe in the disposing of men to new obedience there is not only a forsaking of sinne and the world but besides that there is an inward qualifying of the heart Now the heart is qualified that is it is fitted by certaine qualities to the service of God by the helpe of this consideration as wee see Eccles. 12. 10. Tou see the summe of all feare God and keepe his Commandements for God will bring every worke to judgement Upon this ground hee mindes them to feare God which is that qualitie that disposeth a man to keepe his Commandements hee perswades them upon this ground because God will bring every worke to judgement Let us have grace in our hearts to serve the Lord with reverence and feare Heb. 12. I say this qualifies and disposeth us to the service of God and we are fitted to seeke and to serve God with due reverence and feare by the consideration of the judgement to come that he is a God that will judge the world So in Revel 14. hee would have the Nations to feare God because hee will come to judge the world So much for the first thing you see the consideration of the judgement to come prepares men to holinesse Secondly besides that it quickens them to all the actions of obedience when they are in it when now a man is in a good course and his heart is prepared to seeke God aright yet neverthelesse there are many temptations and many corruptions that sometimes indispose and unfit his heart againe Now then the consideration of the judgement to come it serves to revive and quicken the heart to these actions to Those of a mans particular Calling Those of his generall Calling For his particular calling the Apostle exhorts Timothie and chargeth him before God and Christ that shall judge the quicke and the dead to be faithfull in his ministerie Hee would have him faithfull in his ministerie upon this ground because Christ will come with his elect Angells to judge the quicke and the dead And so for our generall Calling Act. 24. I desire to keepe a good conscience before God and men upon this ground because I beleeve the Resurrection and so a judgement to come So in 2 Pet. 3. 11. Seeing all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought wee to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse Why all these things shall be dissolved therefore we had need to bee other manner of persons then we are to be better kinde of persons then we have beene Thus I say the servants of God quicken themselves to more holinesse upon consideration of the judgement to come Thirdly they have beene confirmed and strengthened upon this ground for when the heart of man is brought to this plight that he must be ever chearefull and lively and active in the service of God yet there are many discouragements and temptations to draw him out of the way againe that it may be hee may fall if he have not somewhat to support him and hold him up therefore the consideration of the judgement to come it hath kept the hearts of Gods servants in a good frame when they have beene in it Saith the Apostle be constant and immoveable alwayes abounding in the worke os the Lord for as much as yee know that your labour is not in vaine in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. As if hee had said You know this that there will a time come when it will appeare that you serve not God in vaine therefore for the present bee constant in the good you are in Hold fast that thou hast till I come saith Christ to the Church of Philadelphia and let no man take thy crowne Rev. 3. 21. Christ will come and it is but holding fast a-while and then the Church shall have a crowne and the servants of God shall have a crowne of glory an abundant recompence of all that they have done in the service of God therefore hold fast Hereupon Iam. 5. the Apostle exhorts to patience because they should meet with many persecutions and oppositions bee patient for the comming of the Lord drawes neere Beare the injuries that you suffer for the present and the indignities and the unkind usage of men for the comming of the Lord drawes neere when you shall have a plentifull harvest so he goes on illustrating this by a comparison taken from a Husband-man that waits for a harvest and then he shall have a plentifull croppe and increase for all his paines in Winter and in seed time so saith he the Lord will come and then you shall have a plentifull increase A word or
and looke on it as a hatefull thing I make it manifest that I am indeed dead to sinne as the Scripture saith here reckon that you are dead to sinne Therefore as when a man is delivered from being a Galley-slave under the Turkes and his ransome is paid if his old Master come and command him to the Galleyes hee saith no my ransome is payd I am free and I will not any more bee a slave So reckon thou art no more to be such as thou wert wont to be for now reckon your selves saith the Apostle if you be in Christ that you are dead to sin and alive to God through Iesus Christ our Lord. FINIS HOPES ANCHOR-HOLD OR THE HELMET OF SALVATION HEB. 6. 19. Which Hope we have as an Anchor of the Soule both sure and stedfast and which entreth into that within the vaile ITHES 5. 8. Let us who are of the day bee sober putting on for a Helmet the Hope of Salvation LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. HOPES ANCHOR HOLD OR THE HELMET OF SALVATION SERMON XXXVIII 1 COR. 15. 19. If in this life onely wee have hope in Christ wee are of all men most miserable I Will not detaine you with the argument of this Chapter nor in the Coherence of this Scripture The scope of it in a word is thus much If in this life in this World onely for the present wee have hope and confidence in Christ and the ayme of our confidence and the height of our hope reach no further then wee wee poore Christians wee the faithfull in the World wee are of all men most miserable yea wee are more miserable then any other men The words containe in them two parts of a Hypotheticall proposition of which the first is an Antecedent as we call it and the other is the Consequent You may call the first a Condition and the last a Conclusion The Antecedent or Condition is this If in this life onely wee have hope in Christ what then then the Consequent or Conclusion is this then are wee of all men the mâ—…st miserable But now against the Antecedent there ariseth this Assumption to make up the sence to make it perfect But not in this life onely have wee hope in Christ for that is the meaning of the Apostle therefore against the Consequent ariseth this Conclusion Therefore we are not of of all men the most miserable â—…y we are not miserable at all You see here are termes in the Text of great consequence here is life here is hope here is Christ here is men here is miserie and here is all things almost that can bee sayd either concerning Heaven or earth Now marke it is not sayd If in this life we have hope wee are miserable neither if wee have hope in Christ in this life then are wee miserable not so but if our hope bee oneâ—… in this life and sticke there and goe no further then so then wee are miserable There are two Emphaticall termes in the Text wee must take notice of and that is onely in the former part and most of all in the latter part onely in the former part that straitneth and restraineth our hope most of all in the latter part that inlargeth our miserie and so it may well for when the hope is restrained to the present there the miserie may be infinitely inlarged But not for the present is our hope onely for the present ergo c. I need say no more it is the Text. I shall raise to you sixe severall Consectaries or Corrollaries or Conclusions that naturally arise out of this Scripture and I purpose at this time to runne them all through it must be roundly it shall bee plainely doe you heare patiently The first Assertion wee make out of the Text it is this that The faithfull are hopefull The godly have hope wee have hope that is taken for granted The second concerneth the object of this hope and the Point is this that Christ is the object of the Christians hope We have hope in Christ. The third is touching the time of our hope and that is for this life the Lesson is this that This life-time is our hope-time We have hope in this life The fourth is that Hope in this life it is not onely of the things of this life Not onely of this life for if in this life onely we have hope oh no take that away our hope in this life is not onely set upon the things of this life If in this life onely not so Fiftly this life you see how that standeth convertible with another terme in the Text with miserie shewing thus much that This life is miserable The last is that The faithfull the hopefull they are not of all the most miserable they are not miserable at all Then were wee miserable but the former being not true that cannot bee true These are the sixe Points Of which to content my selfe with a touch of them as I passe along and so onely to present them severally unto you I begin with the first that The faithfull they are hopefull We have hope so are the words Faith is the evidence of things hoped for so sayth the Apostle Heb. 11. 1. And they that have accesse through this Grace they rejoyce in hope of the glorie of God they goe joyned together Hope is a constant expectation of the performance of such promises of God as we apprehend out of his Word by faith For example Faith doth beleeve Gods promises to bee true Hope doth expect the performance of them according to that truth By Faith wee beleeve God to bee our Father by Hope wee expect that he should shew himselfe such a one to us By Faith wee doe beleeve eternall life by Hope wee attend when this life shall bee revealed Spe as one speakes what is it else but perseverantia fidei the perseverance of Faith Faith is the Mother Hope is the Daughter the Mother is incouraged and comforted by the Daughter as Naomi was by Ruth Hence it is that the holy Apostle Saint Peter hee ascribeth the salvation of our soules to our faith saying that the end of our faith is the salvation of our soules Well and Saint Paul hee assureth the same to belong unto Hope saying we are saved by Hope So then Faith sayth I beleeve these blessed promises of God to bee true and Hope sayth I see them and I waite for the enjoyment of those things that are reserved formee Thus Faith and Hope are woven one in another Thus the faithfull are the hopefull Wee have Hope That 's the first Point The Use of this Point breifly it shall be but this First to teach us to seeke and to finde out this Hope in our selves And secondly to strive and to fight against some impediments that oppose themselves and are hindrances of this Hope First thou must go and seeke thy selfe and search out and find whether
shall be called to an account and he that beat his fellow servant shall bee eternally judged by a righteous God and their honour shall sincke in the dust neither shall their riches deliver them from wrath but they shall see him whom they have peirced and persecuted and shall not be able to escape his presence A dismall thing will this bee that a man shall have his honour die and the great God put disgrace upon him a dismall change indeed when a man shall see all his power changed into impotencie his pleasures into torment and wrath put upon his soule when God shall separate thee from his presence thou shalt not have a drop of ease nor any friend to assist thee nor any hope of comfort thou shalt bee stript of them all and in a moment shall a change of all this bee O considr this if there be any here that forget God least he teare you in peeces and there bee none to helpe remember and consider your latter end and applie your hearts to wisedome Last of all shall there be a change that shall befall every sonne of man then Oh that this people were wise as Moses sayth that they would remember their latter end all the dayes of our appointed time to waite till our change come What do you thinke of servants to whom you had committed servile employments till you came home and if when you come home they were absent and you found one in the street drunke another in a chamber with a strumpet how would you take this Brethren thinke upon it we are Gods servants or should bee two things are imposed upon us one to honour God another to save our owne soules if hee finde us doing the workes of the Divell and the flesh and finde us in the workes of the World how will hee take this Come saith God I have lent you a life thus many years I told you what you should be and what you should doe and what have you beene doing all this life what have your workes been what courses have you taken are these the fruits of your waies to have a life runne over with ignorance with prophanesse c. Alas when a man at that time shall have nothing to say but Lord I have lived in such a sin all my dayes I have fulfilled my owne desires thou hast set mee in this World and I have laboured to get a great estate all my dayes Another may say I have spent my time in drunken societie c. What will God say to these men are these the endings of thy life the fruits of thy opportunities where is the repentance I called for at thy hands where is that godly sorrow that I called for for the sins of thy life did not I send thee into the world for this end to get Grace to get Faith to make up thy accounts with mee thy God and hast thou no regard to it Well thou hast beene foolish inconsiderate for the time that is past yet now understand that a day of change will befall thee O let us be perswaded I beseech you bee perswaded to it in this our day to know the things that concerne our peace whilest it is called to day not to harden our hearts whilest it is called to day not to deferre our repentance thou art not assured of any more time then present Death may meet with thee as thou settest in thy seat as thou goest out of the Church doore and thou knowest thy heart hath beene wicked oh why wilt thou set thy eternall estate upon so small a point as it were the cast of a Die Remember what Daniel sayd to Nebuchadnezar let it have acceptance with thee breake off thy sinnes by repentance c. Seing we must dye and appeare before the judgement seate of God what manner of persons ought we to bee in all holinesse of life and conversation as soone as we are we begin to sinne and as soone as wee are wee begin to dye let us looke upon our account and bee faithfull to our soules perhaps thy accounts are yet to make oh bee sure to let it bee the first thing thou doest and give thy selfe no rest till thou hast done it and when thou hast done this labour to cleare it with the bloud of Christ labour by humble confession and hearty repentance to turne unto the Lord goe on in a holy course and then assuredly wee shall live with joy and dye with peace when wee can get grace in our soules sorrow for our sins newnesse in our natures reformation in our lives uprightnes in our waies faith in Christ a discharge from God peace of conscience oh what a happie day the day of death will bee to our Soules FINIS ἙΞΑΛΈΞΙΟΠHEXALEXIUM OR SIX CORDIALS TO STRENGTHEN THE HEART OF EVERY FAITHFVLL CHRISTIAN AGAINST THE TERROURS OF DEATH By DANIEL FEATLEY D. D. Chaplaine to his sacred Majestie Philip. 1. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ is to me life and death is to me advantage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Immortall descended into a single combate with Death and gave Death a deaths-wound by his death Greek Liturg. LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Nicolas Bourne 1639. ITER NOVISSIMUM OR MAN HIS LAST PROGRESSE A SERMON PREACHED At the Funerall of the Right Worshipfull Sir THOMAS THINNE Knight SERMON XLI ECCLES 12. 5. Man goeth to his long home and the Mourners goe about the streetes ALthough I might in the Kings King Solomons name command yet I will rather in the Preachers his other style humbly entreate your religious attention to the last Scene and Catastrophe of mans life consisting of two Acts and those very short 1 The dead his passe he goeth c. 2 The Mourners march they goe about c. Whereas the whole Scripture is a Volumne of divine Sermons and the Authour of every booke a Preacher and every Chapter a lesson and every verse and piece of a verse a Text. Gregorie Nysscen reasonably demands why this Book which treateth throughout of the vanity of the world and miserie of man is intituled The booke of the Preacher To passe by other answers rendred by him and others not so pertinent to our present purpose I conceive this title of the Preacher is in speciall set over this booke to intimate unto us that according to the Argument thereof there is no Doctrine so fit for all Preachers to teach and all hearers to learne as the vanitie of the creature and the emptinesse of all earthly delights and comforts And in very deed there is no meditation more serious then upon the vanitie of the world no consideration more seasonable then of the brevitie and uncertainty of time it selfe no knowledge more wholesome then of the diseases of the mind no contemplation more divine then of humane miserie and frailtie Which though we reade in the inscription of every stone see in the fall of every leafe here in the knole of every bell taste