the good fight finished his course kept the Faith overcome all his Spiritual Enemies resisted the temptations of Satan subdued and mortified his own Lusts and Corruptions despised the Derision of those Fools that sit in the seat of the scornful trampled upon all the vain pomps and flattering Glories of this present World and after all this perhaps at the last is called to suffer an ignominious and painful Death for the testimony of a good conscience and to endure the cruellest torments that the wit and malice of wicked Men can inflict upon him then he takes up his Cross with joy goes like a Lamb to the Slaughter acknowledging that he hath done nothing that he is but an unprofitable Servant that he is less than the least of all God's Mercies and that his Life is a Sacrifice unworthy of his acceptance and therefore he desires to appear before God's Tribunal not having his own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith This is such a Righteous Man as is here meant in my Text This is that Blessed Man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile And this is that Man who as it is plain from my Text shall Scarcely be saved How that comes to pass I shall hereafter endeavour to shew you For though he shall be Scarcely saved yet saved he shall be infallibly for to him that is faithful unto Death Christ will give a Crown of Life SERMON XI 1 PET. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear IN the handling of these words I have already shewed you who the Righteous Man is and how he is distinguished from the rest of the World He is a Man of a Temper and Conversation exceedingly different from the generality of Mankind and lives amongst them like a Stranger and a Sojourner in a foreign Countrey where he hath few or no Acquaintance like a single Stalk of good Corn in a large Field of Tares Few Men mind him few regard him few keep him company few delight in his Conversation and fewer imitate it He is a Proverb and a By-word among the Ungodly who account his Life madness and his End to be without Honour For Christ's sake he bears Reproach They that sit in the Gate speak against him and he is the Song of the Drunkards The World and he are irreconcilable Enemies as contrary one to the other as Light and Darkness as Heaven and Hell as Christ and Belial while the Wicked and Ungodly rejoice he mourns while they laugh he weeps while they triumph in the very Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity he is a Prisoner of Jesus Christ while they are in great Power and spread themselves like a green Bay tree lie upon Beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches and eat the Lambs out of the Flock and the Calves out of the midst of the Stall live in Idleness and Luxury and Pleasure nourishing their Hearts as in a day of slaughter and pampering up those Lusts which of themselves are too apt to rebel he keeps under his Body and brings it into subjection crucifies the old Man that the Body of Sin may be destroyed subdues and mortifies his Corruptions by Prayer and Fasting and walks mournfully before the Lord of Hosts He meets with scarce any thing in this sinful World which can delight his Soul but almost every Spectacle that he beholds is to him an occasion of sorrow He grieves for his own Sins and he grieves for those of other Men whom he sees with so much Eagerness and Jollity posting towards the Gates of Death He grieves for the Afflictions of Joseph and laments to see the Church of God in Adversity Nothing contents him nothing pleases him in this Valley of Tears but that he is pleased at nothing here below but his Affections are set on those things which are above and the earnest Desire of his Heart is to depart and to be with Christ Which happy End he shall at the last most certainly attain to though it shall not be without great Pains and Difficulty and as my Text expresses it scarcely And so I proceed to make good my second Undertaking which was To shew you why St. Peter here supposes the Righteous to be scarcely saved Which word implies not an Impossibility that they should be saved for certainly then of all Men they would be most miserable nor a Possibility that any one of them should not be saved For every one of them is as sure to obtain Salvation as he is sure to obtain it scarcely Those that thou gavest me saith our Saviour I have kept and none of them is lost but the Son of Perdition who never was one of the Number of the Righteous But this word scarcely denotes only the many and great Difficulties and Troubles and Dangers through which the Righteous are to pass in their way to Heaven They must be tempted afflicted scorned derided persecuted They must labour they must sweat they must die that they may be saved and pass by the very Gates of Hell in their way to Paradise There are large Mansions and a Glorious and Everlasting Kingdom prepared for them but they have many potent and malicious Enemies all which they must overcome before they can take possession of it There is a Crown of Glory laid up for them but they must run for it if they will obtain it They must wage War with Devils and wrestle against Principalities and Powers before they can be accounted worthy to be Companions for Angels And now if David that reposed so great a Confidence in his God and was sufficiently assured that he was ordained to be King over Israel did nevertheless begin to despond and was sore afraid that he should one Day perish by the Hand of Saul much more may the Righteous fear and tremble who have far greater and mightier Enemies than Saul to oppose them able to dismay the stoutest Souldier in the Camp of Christ had he not a Shield of Faith to defend him from their Weapons and an Eye of Faith to discover that those that are for him are more than those that are against him When a mighty Host of the Syrians besieged Elisha God placed Horses and Chariots of Fire round about him for his Defence So though the Righteous Man hath Devils for his Enemies yet he hath Angels for his Guardians and Jesus Christ the Captain of his Salvation He may march on then with Confidence and Assurance of the Victory but he must fight if he will obtain it Heaven is his Inheritance the Kingdom prepared for him from the Foundation of the World but he is a Stranger and a Pilgrim here in a far Countrey and his Journey to it is long and troublesome He hath a narrow and rugged way to walk in tedious and irksome to Flesh
that we have a great High priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God This the Scripture testifies frequently in other places We have such an High-priest saith our Apostle who is set on the Right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not Man Heb. 81.2 and c. 6.20 he tells us that the Fore-runner is for us entred into that within the Veil even Jesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Now the office of Christ our High-priest consists chiefly in these things 1. In being our Advocate to make intercession for us to the Father If any man sin saith S. John we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous 1 Joh. 2.1 and who is he that condemneth saith S. Paul It is Christ that died yearather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 How great a favour how inestimable a benfiet is this to have the only beloved Son of God in whom he is well pleased and to whom he will deny nothing continually to plead and make intercession for us unto his Father They only are truly sensible of this Blessing who are wounded with the Arrows of the Almighty and pressed sore with his hand so that there is no soundness in their flesh because of his anger neither any rest in their Bones because of their Sin They find the benefit of such an Intercession and how desperate and remediless their condition would be had they not such an High-priest that is ever ready upon their true Repentance to make an atonement for them to plead the merit of his sufferings in their behalf and to interpose betwixt them and the wrath of God 2. Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest that being thither ascended he might send unto us the Comforter even the Holy Ghost to abide with us for ever This was one main reason of his Ascension as himself declares to his Disciples John 16.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you This he had promised long before by the prophet Joel c. 2. of that Prophecy v. 28. It shall come to pass saith he that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream Dreams your young men shall see Visions This promise he fulfilled upon his Apostles upon the day of Pentecost Acts 2. and he performs it dayly to all his elect continually begetting and increasing in their hearts the Graces of his Holy Spirit by the Ministery of his word This is that blessed Spirit of truth that guides us into all truth and teaches us all things that bears witness with our Spirits that we are the children of God and seals us unto the day of Redemption and this Holy Spirit Christ as our High-priest sends unto us from Heaven For although he be present every where in respect of his Divine Essence which is Omnipresent yet by his gracious Operation he is present only in the Hearts of his Elect unto whom he is sent by Christ as a Pledge of his Love to abide with them for ever The third Office which Christ performs for us as our High-priest is to prepare a place for us in Heaven The Sin of Adam had shut the Gate of Heaven against us For nothing that is Defiled or Unclean shall enter into the New Jerusalem but Christ by his perfect Obedience and by his meritorious Sufferings for our Sakes hath Expiated the Guilt of this Sin and by his ascending up thither himself hath opened unto us the Gate of Heaven again and given us assurance that he will draw us up after him This he promised to his Disciples Joh. 14.2 I go saith he to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Thus is Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest he is gone thither before us to prepare a place for us a place of endless Bliss and Felicity in those glorious Mansions of his Heavenly Father And so I have done with the Doctrinal part of my Text and shewed you that Christ is really ascended into Heaven and that he is ascended thither as our High-priest I come now to the last Thing I propounded which is to press to you the Apostles Application and to shew you how strongly the Consideration of this Doctrine should oblige us to hold fast our Profession And what can oblige us more to hold fast our Profession to lead a Godly and a Christian Life and to have our Conversation in Heaven than this that we have a great High-priest Jesus the Son of God that is already passed into the Heavens on purpose to prepare for us there an Everlasting Crown of Glory The consideration of the blessed Effects of the Ascension of our Lord if we make a right use of it will enable us to fight the good fight of Faith with Courage to keep our selves unspotted of the World in whatsoever Circumstances we are and to steer our Course aright through all the manifold Changes and Chances of this Mortal Life till we arrive at the end of our Hope even the Salvation of our Souls Let our Condition be what it will good or bad I say the thoughts of this will enable us to behave our selves so as shall be most for the Glory of God and our own Good For first Hath God Blessed us with Peace and Prosperity in this World Hath he given us a plentiful Portion of the good Things of this Life Hath he heaped upon us Riches and Honour filled our Barns with Plenty and caused our Presses to burst out with new Wine Though these things are strong Temptations and very apt to alienate our Hearts from God yet the consideration of our Saviour's Ascension will enable us to overcome them If in the midst of these worldly Blessings we frequently and seriously call to mind that we have a great High-priest that is preparing for us things that are incomparably better and more glorious in Heaven our Eyes then will not be dazled nor our Hearts bewitched with these fading and perishing Enjoyments upon Earth We shall set no higher an Estimate upon them than they deserve but shall be careful to use them with a Christian Prudence and Moderation to the glory of God and the good of our Selves and such poor Members of Christ as we see stand in need of our Charity We shall look upon all these temporal Blessings to be but only lent us for a time but our Hearts and Affections will be wholly fixed with most ardent and longing Desires upon that eternal
a Commonwealth soon after the coming of the Messias and that it did so about 40 years after our Saviour's Crucifixion is matter of Fact as evident and undeniable as the other Nay more than thus forasmuch as it is plain in Chronology that the Commonwealth of the Jews was not destroyed immediately upon the Birth of our Saviour nor immediately after his Death This Prophecy points directly at the time when that fatal Destruction should come upon them that should wrest the Sceptre out of their hands if we understand it as the Learned Mr. Mede doth much more agreeably to the Original and to the completion of it than is our English Translation viz. thus The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come and the gathering of the people be to him and so it is plain that this Destruction of the Jewish Polity was not to happen immediately upon the coming of the Messias but first the people were to be gathered unto him i. e. were to submit to his Government and to own him for their Lord which was fulfilled when the Apostles had executed the Commission which our Saviour gave them and had converted the Gentiles in all Countreys of the then known World to the Christian Faith then immediately followed the utter Subversion of the Jewish State as our Saviour had foretold Matth. 24.14 This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all Nations and then shall the end come Then did the Sceptre finally and totally depart from Judah according to this ancient Prophecy of the Patriarch Jacob. The second Prophecy which I shall instance in to prove that our Saviour came at the time appointed by God for the coming of the Messias is Hagg. 2.6 7 and 9th Verses Thus saith the Lord of hosts yet once it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land and I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former saith the Lord of hosts and in this place will I give peace saith the Lord of hosts Unto which I shall joyn that of Mal. 3.1 as being exactly parallel Behold I will send my Messenger and be shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts The chief end and design of both these Prophecies is to foretel that the Messias should come while the second Temple was standing viz. that Temple which was built by Zerubbabel after that the Jews were returned from the Babylonish Captivity and afterwards repaired and beautified by Herod Thus the ancient Rabbies and Doctors of the Jews understood these Texts as well as we however their modern Writers now labour to wrest them to some other sense that they may not be forced to own our Saviour to be the true Messias at whom it is evident nevertheless that these Texts do directly point For whereas as we read Ezr. 3.12 when Zerubbabel had begun to build this Temple many of the ancient men among the Jews that remembred the former Temple that was built by Solomon wept when they considered how much inferiour this would be to that thereupon God sends the Prophet Haggai to encourage them in the building of it and to assure them That the glory of this latter house should be greater than of the former But wherein was the Glory of this Temple greater than that of Solomon's Indeed it lasted a little the longer of the two and but a little not the Age of a man for it never attain'd to be threescore and ten years older than the former But if it had lasted twice as long what is this to the Glory and Splendour of it For if Glory be the product of Age then an old Cottage is more honourable than a new Palace And as for any other Glory except that which it received by being honoured by the Presence of the Messias it is certain that in all other respects it came far short of Solomon's Temple For who can with any reason suppose that a conquered Nation newly returned out of Captivity from under the hand of a potent Enemy should have so much Wealth and Riches as to be able to build a Temple that might vie with that of Solomon's who exceeded all the Kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom And though it be true that Artaxerxes gave very large and magnificent Contributions towards the building of this second Temple yet is it not to be imagined that Artaxerxes an Heathen King either took so much care or bestowed so much cost about the building of this Temple as Solomon did about his who according to that mighty Wisdom and Riches with which God had blessed him built unto the Honour of God's name both for Cost and Workmanship undoubtedly the stateliest Fabrick that ever the world beheld Neither is it at all probable that Herod when he rebuilt and beautified this Temple anew made it equal to Solomon's But suppose it had been equal to it or exceeded it in the Splendour and Magnificence of its building yet it is certain and the Jews themselves acknowledge it that it was far inferiour to it in matters of an higher Nature For gold and silver and precious stones were the least part of the Glory of Solomon's Temple It s greatest Glory was that God was pleased to make it the peculiar place as it were of his Residence and especial Presence here upon Earth The place where his honour dwelt and that far more visibly and eminently than ever it did in the second Temple before the coming of Christ For besides that at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple we read that Fire came down in a wonderful manner from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the house so that by reason of it the Priests were not able to enter into it and there is no mention made of any such Miracles being shewed at the Dedication of the second it had also the Urim and Thummim and the Ark of the Covenant which were signal Tokens of the Divine Presence and from whence God was wont to give Answers to the High Priest when he came to enquire of him both which were wanting in the second To this we may add also the Spirit of Prophecy so frequently manifest in the Prophets during the time of the first Temple and ceasing all the time of the second for about 400 years together even from Malachy the last of the Prophets in the Old Testament until the coming of our Saviour Since then in all these respects the Glory of the second Temple was far short of that of the former and yet God here by his Prophet
of the Flesh we might easily renounce also the Devil and all his Works and the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World But still to render the Righteous Man's Task harder and his way to Heaven more rugged and difficult he hath besides this Enemy within him his own original Corruptions two Enemies more without to engage with the World and the Devil First The World which with all its Pomps and Vanities its gilded Baits and deceitful Enticements allures and invites him to set his Heart and Affections wholly upon these worthless Toyes and Trifles here below With all the specious Promises of Pleasure Riches Honour and what not It seeks to alienate and estrange his Thoughts from God from his native Country from the Heavenly Canaan that Jerusalem which is above the Mother of us all and to perswade him to set up his staff here in this Vale of Tears where he is but a stranger and a Pilgrim and like the Children of Reuben and Gad to content himself with an inheritance on this side Jordan for the Transitory and perishing enjoyments of this present Life to exclude himself out of the Kingdom of Heaven and to lose the eternal Glory and Happyness of the Saints in light This World is a Shop an inexhaustible Magazine of Temptations suitable and correspondent to the Constitution and desires of all the Sons and Daughters of Adam Here then the Righteous Man the constant and faithful Souldier and Champion of Jesus Christ is again fiercely assaulted in his way to Heaven by this second Adversary the World Here he meets with every thing that can gratifie the most carnal and sensual Appetite Which way soever he stands most inclined and some way or other that natural Corruption wherein all Men are conceived and born will be apt more or less to sway him he shall be sure to have a Bait fitted to his Humour Whatsoever it be that is most likely to seduce and intice him into the Snares of Sin the World is amply stored with all things and is ever ready to furnish him so that it highly concerns him to stand continually upon his guard praying always that God would turn away his Eyes from beholding Vanity and quicken him in his way that he may so pass through things Temporal that he finally lose not the things Eternal But further yet besides these two Enemies of his Salvation his own flesh and the World he hath still another that is indefatigable in plotting and contriving his Destruction and that is the Devil whose business it is continually like a roaring Lion to walk to and fro in the earth seeking whom he may devour This is the great and chief Enemy of Mankind to whose accursed designs the other two are fatally helpful and subservient It was he that beguiled our first Parents in the state of Innocence and by that Means plunged both them and all their posterity into a state of Sin and Corruption And now he makes use of that advantage he hath gained over us he joyns against us together with our lusts and when they seek to draw us away to any thing that is evil he is ever ready to back and strengthen their Temptations with his own secret whispers and suggestions When the World offers any thing to us that is pleasant and inviting he is ready to set a fresh gloss upon it that may render its Charms more prevalent He leaves no Stone unturned no project nor Design unattempted by which he may bring us into the Bondage and Slavery of Sin His Power is great his Industry unwearied and his Malice implacable against all the Sons of Men and by how much the more vigilant and careful the Person against whom he bends his Force is to stand upon his Guard and to defend himself against his Assaults and Stratagems so much the fiercer are his On-fets so much the more violent and outragious is his Fury So that above all others the Righteous Man that constantly withstands and resists his Wiles hath the hardest Task to perform Other Persons that easily yield to his Temptations he may safely leave to themselves He knows that they have an Enemy within them that will be sure to be their Ruin that their own Lusts will be sufficient to prevail against them and that they themselves without his help will work out their own Damnation But where he meets with Opposition there he doubles his Diligence and uses all the Means that Power or Policy or Malice can suggest to him in order to the effecting of his Designs No sooner hath the Man of God overcome one Temptation but he presently sets upon him with another No sooner hath the Shield of Faith quenched one of his fiery Darts but it is again assaulted with a second We read that he dealt thus with our Blessed Saviour himself Three several Attempts he made upon him and would not leave him until he found that he was indeed the Son of God and that it was utterly in vain for him to hope to prevail against him by any of his Temptations And surely if he had so much impudence as not to leave Christ our Head before the third Assault he will much more hardly suffer a repulse from any of his Members Thus ye see how great opposition the Righteous Man is sure to meet with and with what cruel and dangerous Enemies he is daily to fight during the time of his Sojourning here upon Earth And by this Means it comes to pass that he is scarcely saved so scarcely that if the incessant importunities of his own corruptions the sweet and alluring Baits and Temptations of the World and all the restless Malice and Power and Policy of Hell could prevail against him he should certainly be damned All these Adversaries must be subdued by him before he can be esteemed worthy through the merits of Christ to receive a crown of Life Yea and besides all this I might proceed further and shew you that as to outward Appearance and in the Opinion of Men even God himself sometimes seems to be his Enemy here in this World forasmuch as he often laies upon him heavy and great Afflictions for the Trial of his Patience and Faith His Portion in this Life is Sorrow Persecution taking up the Cross and suffering for Righteousness sake All these things are entailed upon every true Disciple of Christ and he must expect to have his share more or less of every one of them While the wicked are in great Power and spread themselves like a green Bay-tree while they enjoy the world at will and live in Ease and Plenty and Prosperity the Righteous are killed all the day long and accounted as sheep for the Slaughter This was our blessed Saviour's own Condition here upon Earth All his whole Life was but one continued scene of sufferings and even from his Mother's Womb to his Death he was all along a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief When he first came into the World he
came in a very Mean and despicable Condition so poorly provided for that he had not so much as a House wherein he might lay his Head nor a cradle wherein he might rest but was forced to be content with a Stable for the one and a Manger for the other And all the rest of his Life was answerable to this Mean beginning He was continually affronted and abused and persecuted by the Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees and by almost all Men with whom he conversed and after all this he was most perfidiously betrayed by one of his own Disciples denied by another of them and forsaken by all the rest and at the last most barbarously murdered by bloudy and sinful Men. And if God dealt thus hardly with his only begotten Son in whom he was ever well-pleased it would be unreasonable for his Disciples and Followers to expect to fare so much better than their Lord as to be wholly exempted from Afflictions in this Life If the Captain of our Salvation was not made perfect but through sufferings surely then we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven except we drink more or less of the same Cup. This our blessed Lord hath assured us shall be the Portion of all that will follow him Luke 14.26 27. If any Man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple And whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple And In the World ye shall have Tribulation John 16.33 And this the holy Apostles afterwards found true by their own Experience They were all hated and maligned and persecuted whithersoever they went and not one of them died a natural Death but S. John the Disciple whom our Saviour seemed to love above the rest and perhaps was therefore pleased to exempt him from suffering a violent Death as the other did And thus it fared afterwards with their Successours the Bishops and Pastours of the primitive Church yea and not only with them but with the greatest part of their Flock too Every one that was known to profess the Faith of Christ was persecuted as a Traytour and to be a Christian was to be a capital Offender And though at present by the blessing of God the Light of the Gospel shines amongst us gloriously yet even amongst Christians themselves those few rare Examples of Piety those Persons that are extraordinarily strict and careful to live answerable to their Profession in all Holy Conversation and Godliness are generally hated and scorned and looked upon with an evil Eye and suffer more Sorrow and Affliction in the World than other Men. And now I have given you an Account of all those dangerous Enemies and those manifold and great Difficulties and Troubles which the Righteous Man hath to overcome in his way to Heaven And from what I have said it is sufficiently evident that he shall scarcely be saved that is it shall cost him great pains and striving to work out his Salvation and through much Tribulation he shall enter into the Kingdom of God And if the Righteous be thus scarcely saved I need not insist much upon the other Proposition nor spend many words to shew you that the wicked the ungodly and the sinner shall most certainly be damned For this follows from the former Doctrine by an undeniable consequence and therefore the Apostle takes it for granted appeals to your own Judgment and leaves it to your selves to determine the question in the words of my Text If the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear If the Righteous that hath undergone so many Troubles hath taken so much pains to subdue and mortifie his Lusts hath with so much Constancy and Resolution turned away his Eyes and his Heart from the bewitching Baits and ensnaring Pomps and Vanities of this sinful World hath with so much Courage and Faith resisted the Temptations of Satan and quenched all the fiery Darts of the Wicked hath with so much Patience and Meekness born his Cross and indured the Afflictions and sufferings of this present Life is after all these painful and glorious Performances even when he hath gained a full and compleat Victory over all his Spiritual Enemies and is a Triumphant Conquerour over Principalities and Powers still but an unprofitable Servant and dares not appear before God's Tribunal trusting in his own Righteousness but in that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith how then shall the Ungodly and the Sinner that hath taken no pains at all to fight the good Fight of Faith that hath let loose the Reins to his Lusts that hath yielded himself a Slave to his Passions that hath put God out of all his Thoughts hath set-his Heart and Affections wholly upon the things which are on Earth and glutted himself with sensual Pleasures hath harkned to the wicked suggestions of the Devil hath walked according to the Course of this World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience hath enjoyed his good things in this Life and hath not come into trouble like other Men be able to stand before the Righteous Judge of all the Earth when he shall be summoned to give an account of all his Actions done in the flesh The case is plain he shall not be able to stand at all but shall be overwhelmed with everlasting Confusion and Misery and Despair The Vngodly saith the Psalmist shall not stand in the Judgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous For the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous but the way of the Vngodly shall perish Psal 1.5 6. If then we desire to stand in that great Day and to lift up our Heads with joy at the coming of our Saviour let us resolve and labour with all our Might now to stand and fight the Lords Battles Manfully against all the Enemies of our Souls Ye see in what Circumstances we are how great Opposition every faithful Champion of Jesus Christ is like to meet with in this troublesome Wilderness before he can arrive at his heavenly Canaan But though the difficulties which threaten us be great yet they are not insuperable but we may by the Assistance of God's holy Spirit who is ready to help our Infirmities overcome them if we will Let not any thing then discourage nor affright us from our perseverance in well-doing but let us animate our selves by the Example of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs and Confessours to run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Authour and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the Right-hand of the Throne of God Let us consider him that endured such Contradiction of Sinners against
trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Again The Righteousness of the Righteous shall not deliver him in the Day of his Transgression as for the Wickedness of the Wicked he shall not fall thereby in the Day that he turneth from his Wickedness neither shall the Righteous be able to live for his Righteousness in the Day that he sinneth Without all Controversie by the Righteous in these Places is meant one who is truly and indeed righteous and just in the sight of God as appears by the Description which he gives of him from the 5th Verse of this 18th Chapter of Ezekiel unto the 10th where he expresly declares him to be one that hath walked in his Statutes and hath kept his Judgments to deal truly For if we should understand it otherwise viz. of one that was only outwardly and hypocritically Righteous these Texts would be down-right Non-sense and must mean this which is indeed nothing When the Righteous i. e. the Hypocrite turneth away from his Righteousness i. e. his Hypocrifie he shall die Certainly God would never threaten to punish any Soul with Death for turning away from Hypocrifie neither would he oppose Hypocrifie to Iniquity as a thing contrary to it when he hath so frequently declared in his word that Hypocrifie it self is most gross Iniquity such as his Soul abhors Since therefore we cannot suppose God here to speak of Counterfeit and Hypocritical Righteousness it must needs follow from these Texts of Scripture That he who was once truly Righteous may turn from such Righteousness and commit Iniquity may fall from Grace into a State of Damnation and that he may continue in such a State and die in his Sins Again Thirdly This is evident from our Saviour's Parable John 15.1 2. I am the true Vine and my Father is the Husbandman Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away Now no Man can ever be a Branch of this Heavenly Vine which is Jesus Christ but by a true Faith And yet our Saviour declares here that such a Branch as this that was once in him may cease to bear Fruit and thereupon be taken away such a Man may depart from the Faith and fall from Christ Fourthly This is clear from that Passage 2 Pet. 2.20 If after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome the latter End is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them unto which Place that of Hebrews 6.4 5 6. is parallel From both which Places it appears that they who were once enlightened and had tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and had tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come that they who have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ i. e. by a true Faith in him for none but such can enable any Man to escape those Pollutions may notwithstanding all this fall away ay and fall so too that it shall be impossible to renew them again unto Repentance I might produce many more Texts of Scripture for the Confirmation of this Doctrine But I shall content my self with those which I have already cited and for the further Proof of it I shall insist upon some few Examples of holy and just Men in Scripture who have fallen from Grace which certainly were recorded on purpose to teach us this excellent Lesson here in my Text that he that thinks he stands may take heed lest he fall And here I shall omit the Case of the fallen Angels who were once Holy but kept not their first Estate and the Case of our First Parents who though they were created by God in his own Image in Righteousness and Holiness yet quickly fell from that happy Condition into a State of Sin and Misery But the Examples I shall insist upon shall be these 1. Saul who certainly at the first was a pious and good King though afterwards he became quite otherwise and was finally rejected of God for his Disobedience The Adversaries to thâ—â— Doctrine object that Saul never was really good nor endued with true Grace But for all that the Story tells us plainly that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and rested upon him while he behaved himself well and that afterwards he departed from him and an evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him And certainly unto whomsoever the blessed Spirit of God vouchsafes to come Grace and true Grace too must needs come along with him who is the Fountain and Authour of it and if ever he departs though but for a season Grace can never stay behind him They therefore that deny that Saul had once true Grace may with as good reason deny that the Man in the Parable Matth. 25. that received but one Talent ever had a true Talent and then he had very hard measure to be condemned for not putting it to the Exchangers when he had received nothing but false Coyn. But if this Example be not satisfactory perhaps the next may and that shall be that of David who the Scripture tells us was a Man after God's own Heart and there is no Man but will readily acknowledge that God had bestowed upon him an extraordinary Measure of Grace And yet by those two grievous Sins of Adultery and Murder he fell from this Grace and continued in a state of Sin and damnation for the space of many Months together and never thought of Repentance until he was restored again by the Ministery of the Prophet Nathan St. Paul tells us expresly that Adulterers shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6.9 And S. John saith that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him 1 John 3.15 It is manifest therefore that by these Sins David did fall from Grace and had he died without Repentance must have perished Eternally I might instance further in Solomon who was once beloved of the Lord and yet in his old Age became an Idolater in S. Peter who denied his Saviour in Demas who was once one of the fellow-labourers with S. Paul and perhaps one of those he means Phil. 4.3 whose Names were in the Book of Life yet he forsook S. Paul having loved this present World 2 Tim. 4.10 but by what I have said already it is sufficiently evident from Scripture that true believers may depart from the Faith and fall from Grace I shall instance only in one thing more to shew that this is agreeable to the Doctrine of our Church In the Rubrick after the Order of publick Baptism of Infants the Church tells us that it is certain by God's Word that Children which are baptized dying before they commit actual Sin are