assures you are kept by the Power of God to Salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 6. It is a Word to revive and quicken you in soul-deadning times and in soul-deadning sins The Faith of God's People begins oftentimes to stagger when the proud are called happy and they that work wickedness are set up and they that tempt God are delivered Mal. 3.14 15. This staggered Jeremiah Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgments Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper wherefore are all they happy that deal treacherously Chap. 12.1 And David when he saw the ungodly prosper in the Earth that they are not in trouble as other men that they are not plagued like other men said He had cleansed his heart in vain in vain had he washed his hands in Innocency Psal 73.5 12 13. but when he came into the Sanctuary of God and consulted the Word of God then he understood their end v. 27 28. Read to this end and purpose Psa 37. and consider it well and it will revive you under these dispondencies of soul When Afflictions like waters upon fire fall on you and deaden your Graces and Comforts this Word will revive you and them this is my comfort in my affliction Thy Word hath quickened me And again Unless thy Law had been my delight I should have perished in my affliction Psal 119.50 92. And sin committed will deaden your Comforts your Graces Great sins are like a great blow upon the head astonishes a man layes him in a swond so great sins lay your Graces Comforts in a swound but this Word will revive you be as Aqua vitae to you David's sins of Adultery and Murder laid him in a spiritual swound well nigh for the space of a year if not all out a year or more he repented not of his sins in all this time but when Nathan the Prophet came to him with the Word of God David then revived 2 Sam. 12. And so for comfort under sin 7. This Word is an Antidote of Sovereign Efficacy to preserve you in the worst of times When a man lives in an Air in a City in a Town in a Family that are infected with the Plague he will take a Cordial to fortifie himself against the Infection Infection of an house with the Plague is dreadful to the Inhabitants and to have the Plague-sore upon the body is a sad affliction but to be infected with the Plague in our souls is worse that brings temporal this eternal death unless cured or prevented Now you live in an infected and an infecting world amongst corrupting and corrupted persons and the danger is great but here is a word that will fortifie you against evil examples promises preferments threatnings and sufferings and keep you from sin make you good in bad times healthy and strong in a bad air I have hid thy Word in my heart that I might not sin against thee Psal 119.11 8. This Word will edifie and build up in Grace As we by a constant feeding upon our food of infants a foot long we grow and increase to be men and women of a full stature So when we are babes in Christ new born this Word by a daily feeding upon it by Faith doth nourish us until we come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ our Graces grow and are increased and strengthned according to our feeding upon it Here is Milk for babes Wine for the faint strong meat for them that are strong Christians The builders of an house cut their timber and square their stones and add timber to timber and stone to stone until the house be built up So saith the Apostle this Word is able to build you up it cuts off the remaining knots of sin and polisheth you from the remainders of corruption until you be made fit for the Temple of God in the highest Heavens 9. It will give you an Inheritance amongst them that are sanctified It gives not by way of merit and purchase but it shews you not only the Kingdom of Heaven but points out the way and directs you to it It doth not only shew and lead you that way but fits you for Heaven Unless we be fitted for Heaven we cannot come thither The Lepers must not enter the Camp so long as the Leprosie was upon them And no unclean thing shall enter into Heaven Rev. 21. ult The Temple of Solomon was all squared and fitted in the field before it was brought together to be built up So you must be fitted in the field of Grace before you can be laid in the Temple of Glory This Word then sanctifieth you purgeth the corruptions the sins of Nature this Word strengtheneth and increaseth your Graces it makes you holy with Saints here and will make you happy with them hereafter it brings Heaven and Glory into your souls here and will bring you into Heaven and Glory hereafter and give a possession of that Inheritance which was prepared for you before the foundation of the World purchased for you by the Blood of Jesus an Inheritance far better than all the Crowns and Kingdoms of the World one corner of it is better than a thousand Worlds for firmness purity duration certainty and scituation An Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens for you 1 Pet. 1.4 where you shall have the best society them that are sanctified Abraham Isaac and Jacob all the Prophets Apostles and Children of God both Minister and People shall be gathered as Wheat and safely reconded in the Garners of Glory There shall be no Ishmael to deride and scoff our devotion no Esau to pursue us no Pharoah to oppress us no Ahab to persecute us no Doeg maliciously and falsly to accuse us no Judas to betray us no Devil to tempt us no Sin to wound us All tears shall be wiped away from our eyes and we shall enjoy Him whom to enjoy is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore Now my Brethren to this Word that is of such indispensible necessity such compleat perfection and of daily use and advantage as being abundantly filled with all suitable Excellencies and Remedies for your souls in every condition I commend you Here is Light to enlighten and guide you a Touchstone to manifest Doctrines what they are unto you Here is a weapon to defend your selves and conquer your enemies Here is Rain to cool you to soften you to refresh you Here is a Cordial to comfort you to revive and quicken you an Antidote to preserve you Here is Liberty to free you Fire to purge you Food to nourish you your Magna Charta wherein your Laws Priviledges and Immunities are enrolled a Treasury of Comfort a Testament full of Legacies your Souls preservative from Sin and preparative to Glory I have done with the Doctrinal part I come now to the Application And though I have spent my self and happily
when the whole harvest was gathered in Oh let God have the first and last of every day How shall your Families be distinguished from your Stables if you do not sanctifie them by Prayer The Creatures which God hath given us for our use they eat drink work and sleep now if we call not upon God daily what difference would there be betwixt our houses and our stables And so enter into your Closets Mat. 6.6 and pray unto your Father which seeth in secret Have you no secret sin to bewail no secret request to put up no particular Mercy to praise God for which you would not have others to know of Is it not a rare Priviledge that we may have liberty to prefer our private Petitions to the King of Heaven every day that we may confess our faults beg pardon ease our heavy hearts by laying them open before that God who will neither upbraid us for our weaknesses wants nor sins Brethren be constant spiritual and fervent in Prayer and it will prove like Sauls Sword and Jonathans Bow which never returned empty Do not hearken to the excuses of flesh and blood which are many but attend to God's Command the Example of Christ and his followers which will oblige you in point of duty and to the Sweetness and Benefit of it which may encourage and allure you 11. Think much of and live in preparation for death walk now and then amongst the Tombs live every day as dying men Get into such a Condition as would fit us for Death every hour Dye daily Deut. 32.29 Oh that you were so wise as to consider your latter â—â—d Dying thoughts would not be a little advantageous they would keep from sin What sin this hour when thou mayest die next they would keep us from doting upon the world from pride of life Why art thou proud of hair and beauty when both shall be turned into dust ere long Shall you and I idolize a coloured piece of clay who though now it proudly and haughtily treads upon the Earth within a few dayes shall it self be trodden upon as mire and dirt O get to be in the number of those servants whom Christ when he comes shall find so being and so doing The Prophet said to Hezekiah Set thy house in order I say to you Set your souls in order against the hour of dying The want of this is of ill consequence for hence it is that men go on securely in sin live as Atheists without God idolize the World and never look to the state of their souls 12. Prepare for Judgement make your Answer ready Put the case before-hand to your selves say with thy self I must ere long appear before the Tribunal of God what can I answer what can I say for my self at that day Who is it that will be Advocate or have I an Advocate that will speak for me how shall I come off shall I stand or shall I fall what will be my sentence Brethren be like him who thought he heard this voice alwayes sounding in his ears Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment The Apostle Paul thought seriously of it and lived as one to be judged 2 Cor. 5.10 For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ to give an account of the things done in the body whether they be good or evil 13. Be often thinking of Eternal Death Walk now and then upon the brinks of Hell get your hearts affected with the reality and greatness of Hells torments Meditate with thy self what Hell is say with thy self Can I endure to lose the smiles of God how shall I endure the frowns of an infinite Majesty If God's terrors have distracted his Friends on Earth what will they do with me if I go to Hell Think what a torment it wil be to be shut out of the company of Saints to see Abraham Isaac Jacob Peter Paul and the rest of the Disciples and Servants of God in all ages in the Kingdom of Heaven and you your selves shut out and what a vexation it will be to be amongst none but damned wretches How canst thou endure to hear the Saints singing praises in Heaven and thou thy self roaring in the infernal Pit Often think of the Worm of Conscience How shall we endure to have Conscience alwayes setting our sins before our eyes It 's a burden now to lie under the gallings of an accusing Conscience O consider that Conscience will continually gnaw and fret in Hell It will be alwayes telling thee of thy sins the place where the time when the persons with whom and all the circumstances that aggravate thy sin Such a time remember thou wast overcharged with Drunkenness such a time thou blasphemedst the holy Name of God with Oaths and Curses Such a time in such a chamber with such a person thou wast wanton and impure Remember what means of Grace thou hast enjoyed what and how many Sermons thou didst or mightst have heard how many able Ministers lived and dyed in thy time Remember will Conscience say what Instruction Reproof and Corrections thou hadst from thy Parents Tutors and Covernours yea remember thou wast not far from the Kingdom of Heaven thou didst fully expect to have gone thither and now thou must be tormented in this flame Again think what a misery it will be to be there where is no mercy where there will be pain without ease sorrow without any joy despair without any hope eternity without end O Eternity Eternity Eternity Often to think of eternal death is the way to escape it If you would not descend into Hell really descend into it mentally If you would not be in Hell by possession be much in it now by meditation This would make us jealous and put us upon trying the state of our souls lest it should unexpectedly be our portion to be amongst the Devil and his Angels for ever 14. Begin betime to be Religious Put not off Holiness Righteousness and Sobriety till old age 1 Kings 18.12 It 's written in commendation of Obadiah that he feared the Lord from his youth It 's King Josiah's honour that while he was yet young he began to seek the Lord God of his fathers 2 Chron. 34.2 3. It 's Mnasons honour that he was an old Disciple Acts 21.16 he began betime and continued till old age Timothy knew the Scriptures from his youth Consider we know not whether old age will be granted us to be religious in be religious whilst ye may The sooner we set upon Piety the sooner we shall honour God and the better God will take it He will remember the kindness of religious youth And by minding Religion soon we may be secured from many sins which others run into and so be secured from the smart and torment of Conscience which old sinners find at Conversion 1. The longer we continue in sin and profaness the more sorrow contrition and humiliation we are like to meet with if ever we be changed Old Oaks must
I leave you all in the Arms of Jesus Christ Shall I leave any of you wedded to your sins and lusts Shall I leave any of you glued to the world and not espoused to one Husband even Jesus Christ Shall my liberty to preach Christ to you cease before you can all say of him My Beloved is mine and I am his O that if it were the will of God it might not be so Brethren my hearts desire and prayer for you is that you may be saved My earnest request and suit to you this day is that you will come to Jesus Christ and be married to him for ever Have pity upon me cryeth sorrowful Job in another case Have pity upon me O ye my friends the Hand of the Lord hath touched me Have pity upon me O my People have pity upon your afflicted grieved dying Pastor And this is the pity I crave at your hands that you would none of you rest in a Christless condition but expect Blessings and Blessedness only through Christ that whether I come again to you or be absent I may hear of your affairs that ye prize and love Christ fervently that ye obey him sincerely constantly and universally having respect to all his Commandments that ye set a high estimation and stick close to his Truths that ye abhor Evil and account Gospel-administrations glorious that ye stand fast in the Faith and abound in every Grace Unum erat c. said Monica to her son Augustine It was one thing for which I desired to live a little longer that I might see thee a Christian ere I dye So say I to you this day whose cheeks I see bedewed with tears If my heart deceive me not I desire my Natural and Civil life a little longer that I might see you Israelites indeed and grown in Grace I seek not yours but you O my Flock I labour not to draw you after me but after Christ So far am I from murmuring at this sad providence exercising me this day that I bless God who bringeth good out of evil that hath given so many of his Ministers opportunity and hearts to confute those Scandals cast on them by unstable souls of being Hirelings Baals Priests greedy Dogs Balaams loving the wages of unrighteousness Diotrephes and loving preheminence preaching for filthy lucre supposing Gain to be Godliness c. from whom men ought to withdraw themselves Let such as are guilty answer as they can Let Baal plead for himself We are sure that the Judgment of God is according to Truth against them that commit such things That God who hath so far rouled away our Reproach can in his due time make our Righteousness shine forth as the noon day Only my Beloved let me not have cause to take up such sad complaints of you that I have bestowed on you labour in vain that I have piped and ye have not danced that I have mourned and ye have not lamented that ye have not believed my report that ye will not come to Christ that ye might have life that I come in my Fathers Name an Embassador in Christs stead and ye receive not my Message but if another come in his own name him ye will receive that ye are easily perverted marvelous soon shaken See Gal. 1.6 7 8 9. and your minds corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ to fall in love with will-worship and empty things of mans devising but will not be converted nor fall in love with Christ nor take his yoke upon you Good People add not thus to my affliction but let me have joy of you that I may say Ye are my Crown and Rejoycing Now I live seeing my Peoples souls are alive and prosper and have their hearts established with Grace so as they cleave with purpose of heart unto God escaping the temptations and pollutions of the world and running like the River Arethusa through the salt Sea yet keep their sweetness and the Word of God abideth richly in them Monica Leapid for joy at Augustine's conversion Cumulatius c. My God hath done abundantly for me that I see thee his Servant So let me have cause to rejoyce and say My God hath granted my desire letting me see you that were serving divers lusts serving the Lord Christ and you that were dead in sin spiritually alive and you that were Swearers fearing an Oath and you that were lost found And you that were haters of Holiness following Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Sirs think not that Angels or some from the dead should ever come to invite you to Christ and testifie these things neither may you expect Christ himself in bodily presence to preach to you when he was on earth He went about doing good calling sinners Come unto me Follow me If any man will be my Disciple let him follow me but now his work is in Heaven where he is about his Peoples Business pleading their Cause Nay you may not expect me to be preaching to you any longer but once more I am here tendering to you Jesus Christ I come a wooing in behalf of my Lord and Master who was dead and is alive and behold he liveth for evermore In his Name who was preaching of old by his Spirit in Noahs time to souls that by their obstinacy and disobedience are in prison in Hell 1 Pet. 3.19 I come to tell you that Except you Repent ye shall all likewise perish and except you believe ye shall be damn'd Mark 16.16 that unless you obey Christ ye will fall short of eternal Salvation and if ye have not the Son ye have not Life I come to tell you of your poverty and blindness of your nakedness misery without Christ that all your hope will perish unless it be built on Christ the Corner-stone and that you can obtain no Blessing but through Christ 'T is recorded that the dead that Sampson slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life To allude to it O that this my dying Sermon might shake the rotten pillars on which souls have built their hopes of Heaven short of Christ that more sins might be mortified and more souls quickened and converted than ever by any Sermon in the course of my Ministry that now at the end of the liberty of my publick Ministry you might all be the seals thereof being pricked to the heart and feeling the weapons of our warfare mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Joseph's Brethren thought evil against him but God meant it for good to save much People alive And O that this sad breach betwixt us this day might occasion some poor souls to say Periissem nisi periissem I had been undone if I had not been undone The smiting of the Shepherd and scattering of the Sheep was
and peace and plenty Zech. 3.8 9 10. The whole 72 Psalm sets out Christ's Blessings Would you have a Land rid of Idolatry and Heresie Zech. 13.2 After the Promise of Christ as a Fountain open the Lord engageth the names of Idols shall be forgotten and the false Prophet shall pass out of the Land Would you have blessings on a Congregatition Good Teachers and all their abilities and success are from Christ Eccles 12.11 Ephes 4.11.12 He hath a Blessing for the habitation of the Just Prov. 3.33 Riches and Honour are his Prov. 8.18 All fresh Springs are in him He hath plenty of spiritual Blessings being the store-house of his Church where it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell From him flow Acceptance Ephes 1.6 Justification and Pardon Mat. 9.6 1 Cor. 6.11 Sanctification Acts 3.26 Illumination Col. 2.2 All the Treasures of Knowledge are hid in Him and He openeth the eyes of the Blind He is the Author and Finisher of Faith full of Grace by Him we have Adoption of Children Ephes 1.5 These are rich Blessings Moreover through Christ we have interest in the Promises 2 Cor. 1.20 and right to all our Comforts and Priviledges 1 Cor. 3.22 23. All are yours and ye are Christ's Briefly Through Christ you have Everlasting Blessedness Heb. 5.9 Rejoyce then in Christ Jesus O ye Upright ye are the blessed of the Lord who went to Heaven blessing Read over your Charter Priviledges through Christ what is there wanting that heart could wish for your selves your Children this life or a better Yet consider further with me Christ went to Heaven blessing and Acts 1.11 In like manner will he come again How will Christ do you think bless his People at his second Coming What a joyful meeting will there be of the Lamb and his Spouse decked and adorned with Graces how will he welcome his Bride when he cometh again to receive her to abide with him who left her whilest full of spots and wrinkles so kindly he then took a few apart and blessed them but then at his second Coming Gather my Saints together Earth and Sea must give up their dead and never a Saint be lost but raised at the last day Christ blesseth Believers at death receiving their souls making their bodies rest in hope but at His appearing he will bless them with a glorious Resurrection making their vile bodies like his glorious Body Phil. 3.20 Saints bodies shall then be glorious spiritual strong and incorruptible 1 Cor. 15.42 43 44. No more hunger and thirst nor cold and weariness no more crying nor saying I am sick nor pain nor death Christ will set them at his Right hand and bless them with a sentence of Absolution Come ye blessed of my Father Well may the afflicted Church on earth tossed with tempests cry Come Lord Jesus come quickly Oh! what a time of refreshing shall that be Act. 3.19 how shall the Saints then sing Halelujah Blessing Honour and Praise be given to the Lamb and to Him that sitteth on the Throne O joyful Day when our Lord Jesus who went to Heaven With his Hands lifted up in Blessing shall come to carry his People blessed triumphantly in Heaven Into the hands of this Lord Jesus I commit you my Dear People SERMON XI Psal 69.6 Let not them that wait on thee O Lord God of hosts be ashamed for my sake let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake O God of Israel The Psalm for the main substance of it is Davids prayer for deliverance from the grievous oppression of his cruel enemies yet it so relates to David that many passages do also respect Christ of whom David was an eminent Type so the 9th verse is applied part of it John 2.17 and the rest of it Rom. 15.3 and so may more passages in it be applied This Petition for deliverance whether you refer it to David or Christ is 1. Propounded in the beginning of the first verse Save me 2. Prosecuted and urged with divers Arguments whereof the first is drawn from the greatness of the calamity under which he lay ver 1 2. Secondly From his long waiting and earnest crying his throat dried his eyes fail ver 3. â— Thirdly From the number and nature of his enemies more than the hairs of his head and they very malicious and injurious hating him causelesly forcing him to unjust restitution Under which also is couched a 4th Argument viz. his own innocency as to the matter wherof he was accused and for which he was hated and persecuted ver 4. Notwithstanding which innocency of his as to the particulars wherewith he was charged by men â—e yet justifies God in permitting these evils to befal him for this I take to be part of the sense of the 5th vers O God thou knowest my foolishness and therefore I cannot justifie my self before thee nor accuse thee of injustice for permitting it to be thus with me Though the words may seem also to look another way viz. to be Davids appeal to God concerning his innocency in those particulars q. d. Thou Lord who knowest my foolishness from whom my sins are not hid knowest my innocency in the things whereof I am accused By the way take this Note Obs When men oppress and pesecute most unjustly yet there is cause to justify God in suffering it to be so God's Justice is executed upon us by their injustice if men falsly accuse us yet God can truly charge us When Job had to deal with men he will maintain his integrity against their accusations chap. 27.4 5 6. but when he hath to deal with God he acknowledgeth his sin will not stand upon his own justification he will not plead but supplicate chap. 9. throughout The Prophet Jeremiah grants the conclusion chap. 12.1 though he defiers to debate with God about the prosperity of the wicked and about God's permitting them to oppress and trample upon his People If any of God's People think they have hard measure from men that they are wrongfully and injuriously handled as to some particular yet let them eye God and confider their carriage towards him and they shall find cause enough to say as Ezra 9.13 Thou hast punished us lesse than our iniquities deserve It may seem hard that the poor Messengers of Christ who desired nothing more but libery to speak to fouls that they might be saved and have daily bread should be deprived of this liberty livelyhood upon such ground as were not necessary to be imposed by others of which themselves cannot submit to without losing the peace of their conscience and credit of their Ministry yet who so innocent that he cannot see reason enough to justifie God alas there is so much unfaithfulness luke-warmness negligence laziness and a thousand other miscarriages to be found in us as may abundantly justifie God in this dispensation though he seem to spit in our faces and to lay us aside as a vessel wherein there
Temptation to enjoy worldly Greatness yet he overcame it by withdrawing himself Thus Christ overcame the World in the heigth of its pomp and glory 3. Temptations from friends to sin to avoid evil fore-seen these are great Temptations yet these Christ overcame Mat. 16.21 22. Christ knowing and fore-seeing his great Sufferings acquainteth his Disciples with them Peter adviseth him to look to himself as this way the Christians were assaulted in the Primitive times yet Christ overcame and repelled that carnal suggestion ver 23. 4. Christ also overcame the Sufferings of the World and all the Persecutions that were raised against him Persecutions of the tongue John 9.24 So Mat. 10.25 And after his Agony in the Garden his buffetting spitting on crowning with thorns and the ignominious and shameful Death of the Cross These were Temptations to sin but in all these conflicts Christ overcame and preserved himself free from sin 5. He did not only overcome all Temptations from the World but the Captain or General on the Worlds side who hath the Management of these Temptations Ephes 2.2 Mat. 4.3 to 10. Thus he fully overcame the World Col. 2.15 Thirdly In which of the foregoing senses did Christ overcome the World I answer 1. In both he overcame by resisting all Temptations he met with from the World and enduring all sufferings that were laid on him in the world patiently and meekly without sin 1 Pet. 2.21 22 23. Isa 53.8 9. If he had been drawn to sin by the World then the World had overcome him but being free he overcame 2. Christ having thus overcome the World he did manage his Victory after his Resurrection Mat. 28.18 19 20. and after his Ascension Ephes 4.10 11. Thus he did by the preaching of the Gospel increase his Dominions calling in the Gentiles Thus he did excellently pursue his Victory to the weakening of Satans Kingdom and the enlargement of his own Fourthly Why is it said I have overcome when the Victory was not yet perfect I answer 1. Because Christ had then in his own person conquered the World so far as he had been assaulted by it or had conflicted with it And though his perfect Victory over the World in his own person was to be accomplished on his Cross yet it is said to be already because he was â—â—rtain that he should overcome in his last and great Conflict on the Cross 2. Though this Victory be not accomplished fully as to Christ's Members yet Christ hath so overcome the World as that it is certain at the Day of Judgement they shall have no power to make any further resistance when the wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God Psal 9.17 When those his Enemies which would not that he should reign over them shall be brought and slain before him Luke 19.27 When the World shall pass away and the Lust thereof 1 John 2.17 Fifthly That it is so 1. Because Christ as he came into the World pure without sin so though the Devil and World did to their utmost assault him yet he was till death pure and free from sin Our first Parents were overcome when they yeelded to sin but Christ overcame because he is pure and free from sin and ever was so 1 Pet. 2.22 Heb. 4.15 and this is as it were a plain proof of his Victory he was tempted yet without sin as the contrary is of the Devil and Worlds conquest 2 Pet. 2.19 20. 2. Because he enjoyed the Crown the Reward due to the Conqueror Rev. 3.21 As I overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne q. d. I therefore have this Glory Honour conferred on me because I have conquered If I had been overcome by the World then I had missed of it So that Christ sitting at his Fathers right hand is an evident Testimony of his Victory for he had not had that Glory if he had not conquered Sixthly Reasons why Reas 1. That he might glorifie his Divine Power After that the Devil and World had overcome Adam and his Posterity and Man by the own strength and power could not overcome or get out of his snare or from under the power of Satan and the World Heb. 10.4 to 10. Lo I come q. d. I come who am God as well as man able to give satisfaction and to conquer the World and having undertaken this conflict and entred the Lists he overcame for the Glory of his Divinity Reas 2. That he might accomplish our Salvation For had he whilst he was upon earth been overcome by the World and so tainted with sin the work of our Redemption and Salvation had miscarried 1 Pet. 1.18 19. In Exod. 12.5 The Lamb that was to typifie Christ must be without blemish Now had Christ been overcome so as to be stained with sin our Salvation had miscarried but he overcame the world for our sakes Reas 3. He did this for the Joy that was set before him Heb. 12.2 If he did win the victory and gain the conquest the advancing of his humane nature to God's right hand was promised him if he overcame and this encouraged him in his conflict as appeareth Who for the Joy c. This he did expect at God's hand John 17.4 5. I have glorified thee on earth and now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was He was just now at his last and great conflict is confident he shall overcome and mindeth God of his Reward Reas 4. That he might teach and instruct us how to conquer the World Christ conquering by suffering was for our example 1 Pet. 2.21 Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps And so we are in our conflicts frequently put in mind of Câ—rist's Heb. 12.2 3 4. and so doubtless Christ did conquer and overcome the World for to give us an Example He could have done it as God but he did it in our natures for this end Use 1. If this be so then it is for a Christians comfort and encouragement that the Captain of our Salvation hath overcome our Enemy the World Heb. 2.10 He got a perfect Victory by Suffering It is the joy of Souldiers that their Captain hath got the field So it should be of us Christians for the Souldiers are not more sure to reap benefit by the Captains victory than we by Christ's 1. Christ hath overcome the World in the utmost of its strength and vigor It tryed its full strength with the want of necessary sustenance when hungry with the heighth of Glory and abundance Mat. 4.2 3 8. with the perswasion of friends and extremity of sufferings yet Christ overcame the World in that nature and so assureth us that its possible for man to overcome this Enemy in its full force 2. Because that this Victory of Christs is the ground of our Assurance of Salvation For after the Devil had conquered
be of good chear 8. A Christian is to be of good chear because Christ our Captain bids us be so and if he did not see ground and cause thus to encourage us he would never have done it He bad the Disciples in Mark 6.50 Be of good chear It is God and Christ that have the over-ruling hand in these Tribulations as 1 Cor. 10.13 therefore ground of being of good chear Christ hath bidden us so to be 2. Why because Christ hath overcome the World Did not Job overcome the World by Patience Job 1.22 And so Moses who did chuse Afflictions And so Jam. 5.10 11. So Mat. 5.11 To this I answer 1. That indeed they are Examples of Courage and Patience but they suffered as private persons or more on a private account Therefore so eminently we are not bid be of good comfort though something is hinted in Mat. 5.11 2. Jesus Christ overcoming the World is of publick concernment he did it in our stead and behalf The Devil and World did design to hinder our Salvation by tempting Christ to sin if they had prevailed our Salvation had been hindered but his overcoming the world removed all obstructions as to the meritorious cause of our Salvation Hence is that Rom. 4.25 Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our Justification 3. Christ's overcoming the World is of greater concernment to us for our Comfort in Afflictions than Saints overcoming the world for theirs was for their own Salvation the Scriptures making Promises to him that overcometh Mat. 24.13 Gal. 6.9 But now Christ did it on our account the Glory personally was his John 17.5 before the World was and that was large as in Phil. 2.6 to 9. 4. Christ's bidding us be of good Comfort on this account because his Victory hath broken the Serpents head he hath left us but the distressed body to conflict with And though when we reade of the Martyrs Sufferings we may think them almost comparable to Christ's yet never any did nor shall for Righteousness sake suffer the like as it appeareth John 14.27 These expressed in their death nothing like his Agony especially Mat. 27.46 5. There is strength also given by vertue of Christ's Victory to overcome the World and so ground of comfort as the Apostle concludeth Phil. 4.11 12 13. this is spoken in respect of suffering Tribulation And so Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ c. and that by Christs Victory And so in Heb. 2.18 And thus there is cause to be of good chear As it was said of Constantine Sub Cruce Vinces So Christians 6. And lastly His Conquest was of more publick Example It s true others are Examples but Christ mainly 1 Pet. 2.21 And so Heb. 2.10 11. He by his Sufferings was perfected and so left us some in the way to Heaven Col. 1.24 And that is only so much as is necessary for our tryal and further fitting for Heaven Vse 1. If this be so then it is the duty of Christians in all Tribulations they meet with in the world to be chearful Christ commandeth his Disciples to be so in the Text. And the Apostle pressed this Doctrine 1 Thess 5.16 Phil. 4.4 This alway and evermore must take in the time of Tribulation seeing Christ did tells us and we find by experience we must have it in the world and then when we have it we should be of good chear 1. We have examples of such as have practised this The Apostle saith Rom. 5.3 We glory in Tribulation And so in 1 Pet. 1.6 wherein ye greatly rejoyce c. speaking of the spirits of Saints at that time So in that commendation Heb. 10.34 And so Paul and Silas sung in Prison Also the comforts that primitive and latter Martyrs have expressed confirm this No other sort of men have been like them for this 2. It is a duty that we sin much against God if we do not practise because we have encouragement from our Captain that undertook and got this Victory for our sakes and hath left but some stragling afflictions behind Col. 1.24 We should be very cowardly if we do not with good courage follow him when it is but Resist and he will flee Jam. 4.7 and but believe as 1 John 5.4 Obj. But some may object If it was in some tribulation I could be more chearful if from enemies as Psal 55.12 13 14. Ans 1. To this I answer That Christ hath told us that in tribulation which we meet with in the world of what nature sort soever we are to be of good chear not in this or that particular tribulation only 2. Christ hath overcome the world in this point when his Discipleâ— fled and Peter denied him And so Paul 2 Tim. 4.16 17. No man stood with me but all forsook me Yet he had God to stand with him Use 2. If this be so Then a Christian though he suffer yet Christ hath as it were sweetned it in bidding us rejoyce He hath sweetly mixed this bitter cup though it cannot pass from us but we must drink of it What a voice is this in affliction it is suitable and comfortable as Mark 6.50 3dly It is a great sin not to be of good chear in Tribulation He knoweth what the sharpest of afflictions mean and underwent them and so knoweth there is ground for what he hath engaged us to and if we be not of good chear but cowardly yeeld as 2 Tim. 2.12 Him that is ashamed and cannot patiently and chearfully bear tribulation Christ will not own 4thly Let us think of such things in Tribulation as may make us chearful For in Tribulation it self no man can rejoyce it must be some adjunct that must make us chearful in it As 1. Sincerity 2 Cor. 1.12 and so Hezekiah did Isa 38.3 2. Interest in God as our God as in Phil. 4.4 So Lam. 3.24 The Lord is my portion therefore will I hope in him This is the highest ground of comfort 3. The glorious Issue as Moses did Heb. 11.25 26. and Christ Heb. 12.2 and the Apostle 2 Cor. 4.17 4. Look on it as an Honour 2 Thess 1.4 5. and so in Acts 5.4 the Apostles looked upon it as a badge of Honour So Gal. 6.17 5. It is an excellent means to yeeld comfort in tribulation to consider the End God made with suffering Saints as to this life Jam. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the End of the Lord c. So Joseph and David 6. And lastly Christ's Victory over the world His Issue and Support we are like to have Hob. 2.18 This Christ layeth down as ground of comfort and this we may take comfort mainly from SERMON XIII Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and the word of his Grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified EVery Society shall have a Separation and every
Tokens into the midst of Egypt upon Pharoah and upon all his Servants Why did he smite great Nations and slay mighty Kings Sion King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan and all the Kings of Canaan Psal 135.8 9 10 11. Was it not because he had chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure ver 4. And again I gave Egypt for thy ransom Ethiopia and Sheba for thee Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore I will give men for thee and people for thy life Isa 43.3 4. God in his Love thinks nothing too good nothing too great to be done for his Church and People He not only gives famous Kings and potent Nations up to ruine for his Peoples temporal deliverance but in the stupendiousness of his Love hath given his Son for their eternal Salvation John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and in and by him hath made a full compleat and abundant provision all things needful for your Salvation He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 The faithful apprehension and application of this Love will steel you against all sufferings and make you Reproach-proof and Persecution-proof that you shall not be ashamed of a despised Gospel a reproached Religion and a persecuted Christ and Hope maketh not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts Rom. 5.5 This Love will comfort you against all temptations concerning sin in doubtings concerning Gods presence perseverance in Faith and assurance of Salvation I am perswaded saith the Apostle that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jâ—sus our Lord Rom. 8.38 39. To these add the dearness strength constancy and inviolableness of God's Lewe unto his Children dearer than a mothers to her swâ—â—etest babe Isa 49.15 stronger than the mountains Isa 54.19 more constant than the courses of Heaven Jâ—r 31.35 36. 33.20 21. it is as sure as God him self is sure Psal 89.34 35. And for a People to be committed to such a Love is ground of security and comfort When Ministers are taken from you this will â—bide with you 2. To commit you to God is to commit you to the tenderest mercy Mercy is the best refuge to the miserable Whither shall the malefactor flee for pardon but to the mercy of his Prince whither shall the captive go for safety but to the mercy of his Conqueror The pity of an armed Conqueror is better safety than the flinty-heartednes of a naked captive Compassion unarms the Armed blunts sharpened swords enfeebles the strong and sinewy arms when an astorgy arms the unarmed sharpens the sword addes strength to weak arms and blocks up all wayes and means of securiâ—y and comfort A man's pity subdues him when the valour policy strength and weapons of his enemies cannot conquer him and makes him a security to his adversary This encouraged Benhadad to humble himself to Ahab whom and his Kingdom he had twice before attempted to destroy by two formidable Armies Behold we have heard that the Kings of Israel are merciful Kings let us we pray thee put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads and go out to the King of Israel peradventure he will save thy life and it was so 1 Kings 20.31 c. And shall the Kings of Israel have mercy to save their enemies and shall not the KING of the Kings of Israel have mercy on his Children Mercy makes the tender heart partaker of the misery of him that is distressed Misericordia quasi miseria cordi it translates the misery of another into the heart of the merciful and enclines them to relieve and succour them It is pity that makes you to bind up the wounds of the wounded to wash Lazarus his sores to cloath the naked to feed the hungry to refresh the thirsty Now the God to whom I leave you is the God of pity and Father of mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 all the pity and compassion in the creatures is derived from him and were it all contracted into one yet it were but a drop to his Ocean and as the mercifulness of tender Parents causeth them to pitty their sick Children so God like a tender Father pitties them that fear him Psal 103.10 yea he sympathizeth with them in all their sufferings accounting their sufferings his Are they reproached so is he are they persecuted so is he are they imprisoned banished tormented put to cruel deaths he accounts it as done to himself and whatsoever Satan doth to you in tempting you to sin to dispair in buffeting you filling your hearts with heaviness your mouths with sighs and complaints your eyes with showers of tears he takes it as done to himself In all their afflictions he was afflicted Isa 63.9 And as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we from our own suffering learn more to pitty others in the like distresse so Christ's experiences of the worlds hatred and persecution of Satans rage and temptation doth cause Christ to pitty his suffering Members more We have not an high Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted as we are yet without sin and in that himself suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Heb. 4.15 chap. 2.18 Here is a rise of Compassion according to the degree of suffering How do the screechings of a sick Child the deep sighs and groans of a sick tormented Child make the bowels of the Parents roul within them and melt their affections into tears The Harlot whose the living Child was could not endure to suffer and see her Babe to be cut asunder but denied and acquitted her interest in him because her bowels yearned towards him 1 Kings 3.26 God's Pitty to his People is the most intensive when their Afflictions are the most increased His soul was grieved for the Misery of his People Israel Judg. 10.16 It grieves God to see his lie laden with Iron-fetters to lye in long and loathsome Imprisonments under cruel Tortures and Tormenting Deaths When you are buffeted with Satan bewailing your sins and miseries God's Bowels of Compassion are moved towards you Jer. 31.18 19 20. Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised c. After I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth Thus Ephraim bemoaned himself and God heard him and marked his expressions weighed the sorrow and burden of his spirit and pittieth him Is Ephraim my dear
a great energy 1. This is to commit you to the Captain of the Church The Church is compared to an Army with Banners and Christ is the Captain General of that Army John 5.13 14 this Captain is wise and pollitick to find out and disappoint the cruel Stratagems and bloody Designs of his Churches Enemies Psal 33. He bringeth the Counsel of the Heathens to naught and maketh the Devices of the People of none effect He is prudent in managing all the Affairs and Concernments of the Church and orders them for his Peoples advantage because He is Wonderful in Counsel and Excellent in working Isa 28.29 As the Captain of his Church He goes before them in all their dangers He a bates the Fury of the Adversary he blunts the Sword he will make way for his People to follow him through the greatest difficulties He stops the mouths of hungry Lyons cooleth a Fiery-furnace makes a Jordan and a red Sea passable He hath tasted of every cup hath taken away the Poyson of it and makes it medicinal and sweet in the issue hence called The Leader and Commander of his People Isa 55.4 As your Captain he will succour you with new supplies of Strength and Courage in all your combatings with Corruptions Temptations and Satan and restore you when you are near vanquished his Grace is sufficient for you 2 Cor. 12. As your Captain he encourageth you by his Word Isa 41.13 14 15. Mat. 10.28 Luke 12.32 John 14.27 Rev. 2.10 by his Example Heb. 12.1 2 3. by promise of Reward that the Dunghil of your sufferings through perseverance and uprightness shall be turned into a Throne of Glory Be thou faithful unto the death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 3.10 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my Throne even as I overcame and am sate down with my Father on his Throne Rev. 3.21 As our Captain he conquers all our Eenemies Sin Satan the World and crowns us with Victory Rom. 8.37 We are more than Conquerors through Christ that loved us And hence the Apostle triumphs O Death were is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God that giveth us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. 2. He is the King of his Church Psal 2.6 called the King of Saints Rev. 15.3 stilled the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. 19.16 As King he will effectually call you and all others that belong to the Election of Grace into a state of Salvation Thy People shall be a willing People in the day of thy Power Psal 110.3 He will redeem you from the Thraldom of Sin and Satans Vassalage turning Darkness to Light from the Power of Satan to the Power of God Acts 26.18 Kings are the Refuge of their distressed Subjects like the Tree in Nebuchadnezzars Vision in whose branches the Birds builded their nests and under whose shadows the Beasts rested and secured themselves Dan. 4.12 So God is the great Refuge of his Church of his People Thy Name is a strong Tower and the Righteous fly thereunto and are safe Prov. 18.10 If you will be true Christians you must expect to meet with stormy and windy dayes within you and by corruption without you by wicked men and infernal Spiâ—its expect to be persecuted pursued with temptations stung with sin and buffeted by Satan but here is your Refuge Isa 32.2 A man shall be an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the storm and the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land This King of the the Church is glorious in Power fearful in Praises doing Wonders He is the Sole Soveraign of the three Kingdoms Heaven Earth and Hell and governs all the Creatures therein and disposeth their actions according to his will He stills the raging Sea turning the storm into a calm and limits the foaming and furious waves so far shalt thou go and no further He binds up the four Angels at the River Euphrates and looseth them at his pleasure and limits their rage i. e. He binds up and looseth and limits the Turkish Fury for an hour for a day for a month for a year which like mighty Seas break out and bear down before it mighty Nations and Kingdoms drowning them in the Floods of hostile Invasions and Miseries Rev. 9.14 15. This King binds up the Devil in the Chains of his Power and Providence that he cannot tempt you touch an hair of your head nor a Swine of your herd unless God give him leave and if he give him leave yet he limits for duration of time and measure so that your enemies shall neither sooner nor longer nor more afflict you than God gives them leave This King will subdue and conquer his Churches Enemies He will break them with a Rod of Iron and dash them in pieces like a Potters vessel Psal 2.9 He will strike through Kings in the day of his wrath Psal 110. they shall be before him as Dust before the Wind as Briars Thorns Stubble before the Fire Isa 27.4 This King is wonderfully rich and multiplies great Gifts and Priviledges upon his Church and People He is a Sun and Shield he will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he withhold from you if ye live uprightly Psal 84.11 12. He will abundantly recompence all you works losses sufferings for him with an incorruptible Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 1.4 In a word in the day of his glorious Royalty when he comes to judge the World he will wipe off all the soot and blackness of Reproach and Sufferings and invest with an admirable Glory shining like the Sun in the Firmament 3. Jesus Christ is his Churches Shepherd Isa 40.11 He shall feed his Flock like a Shepherd And God promiseth that he will set one Shepherd over them and he shall feed them even his servant David i. e. Christ of the Seed of David Ezek. 34.23 And Christ assureth us that he is the good Shepherd John 10.11 14 16. What a Shepherd is to his Sheep the same is Christ to his Church he will provide Pasture for his People He maketh me saith David to lye down in green Pastures and leads me beside the still Waters Psal 23. These green Pastures and still waters are Gospel Ordinances where his People feed and drink The variety of Ordinances shew the variety of feeding the richness and fulness of the Ordinances shew the plentifulness of feeding Here is Milk for Babes Wine for the Faint Water for the Scorched strong Meat for strong Christians Isa 55.1 2. He hath provided his Body and Blood to feast and feed you to Life Eternal He knows the number of his Sheep and their particular persons from other men John 10.14 I am the good Shepherd and know my Sheep The Foundation of the Lord standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth them
6.32 15.32 29.24 He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul But he that walks exactly by the Rule of God's Commands is wise for his own good in all respects He is wise for his soul wherein a man 's own chiefest good doth consist Prov. 19.16 He that kâ—epeth the Commandment keepeth his own soul Yea but may the wicked think if they are wisest for their souls we are wisest for our bodies Nay but the Godly are wisest for their bodies also for while they live they make their bodies thâ— Temples of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 they so provide that after death at the Resurrection their bodies are raised incorruptible glorious powerful and spiritual bodies 1 Cor. 15.42 43 44. Phil. 3.21 whereas the bodies of the ungodly while they live are but as a cage of unclean birds and after death shall be raised to everlasting shame and torment Dan. 12.2 Furthermore the Goâ—ly Man is wisest both for this life and also for the life that is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 I might yet add many other particulars wherein it will appear that a Godly Man is wisest for himself He keeps himself safest Prov. 10.9 3.23 c. He makes himself richest Psal 112.3 Prov. 3.16 8.18 22.4 He advanceâ—h himself highest Prov. 3.16 and the other forecited places He lives longest Prov. 9.10 11. Now therefore my Brethren if you have regard to your souls or bodies to this life or that which is to come to your safety wealth honour or life and would act the parts of truly wise men in all respects then see that you walk circumspectly and exactly 2. Again as he that walks most exactly appears to be the wisest man in doing that which iâ— best for him self so also in that he doth best for his Relations his Family his Friends his Neighbours his Country his Posterity do all fare the better for his goodness Potiphars house fared the better for Josephs sake Gen. 39.2 3. All Egypt for Jacobs sake Gen. 45.5 Davids posterity for Davids sake And Sodom Gomorrah should have fared the better for ten righteous Persons sake if they could have been found there Gen. 18.32 3. He that walks most exactly is the wisest Man because he doth that which is most pleasing to God Certainly if there be any wisdom in a Subjects pleasing his Prince a Son his Father a Servant his Master there is much more wisdom in a Creatures pleasing his Creator I am necessitated to be very brief but I know these things will not be received by many without the opposition of several Objections and therefore I must needs save a little room for the answering of those Objections if not to the satisfaction and silencing of the carnal Objectors yet for the establishment of the minds of the weak Object 1. But do not these persons that live so exactly cut themselves short by their preciseness of much of that pleasure and profit which they might otherwise receive and what wisdom is there in that Answ 1. It is true that they do abridge themselves of much of that which the men of the world call pleasure and profit they dare not drink and game and be wanton and cozen and cheat or devote themselves to the cares of the world as others do 2. But that which the world calls pleasure and profit is not so to them They find no joy in those fleshly delights which worldlings pretend do yeeld them so much pleasure and that profit which is got by unlawful means they ever account the greatest loss Take Solomon for an instance hereof Eccles 2. from the 1st to the 12th ver He gave himself for experiment sake to Mirth and Wine he made great Works and built Houses and planted Vineyards and Gardens and Orchards he made Pools and got him Servants in abundance and Flocks and Herds of all sorts of Cattel he gathered Silver and Gold and other precious Treasures he gat Men-singers and Women-singers and all the Delights of the Sons of Men as Musical Instruments and that of all sorts and when he had done he looked back upon all and writes this Motto upon them Vanity of vanities all is vanity and vexation of spirit 3. Nay thirdly these persons of all the men in the world do enjoy the only true Pleasure and Profit and that is the Pleasure and Profit which they have in and by their living precisely and exactly Godliness is their gain Grace their riches the Service of God their pleasure and the Favour of God their honour and life These are the things wherein alone they delight themselves and wherewith they are enriched to Eternity As for the things of this life if their godliness bring them in but little yet withal it makes that little to be better to them than the treasures of many wicked Psal 37.16 Object 2. But do they not by their Preciseness create to themselves a sad and melancholy life And what wisdom is there in that Answ 1. Men are much mistaken in this censure Because the Godly do not mingle themselves with their carnal pleasures therefore they look upon them but as a lump of melancholy flesh But his Joy is a kind of joy which a stranger intermeddles not withal The men of the world understand it not and therefore they think there is no such thing But 2. If the Godly have sorrow at any time it doth not arise from their preciseness but because they are not so precise and exact as they should and would be but evermore the more circumspectly and exactly they walk the more full of Peace Comfort and Joy they are 3. A Godly mans sadness is but in order to the attaining of a more true Comfort and full Joy by removing sin which obstructs and hinders his comfort Though weeping endure for a night yet Joy comes in the morning and that so much the more abundantly Hence his sadness is a blessed sadness because it ends in everlasting joy but the mirth of the wicked is a cursed mirth because it ends in everlasting horrour Psal 37.37 38. Obj. 3. But do they not make themselves the Scorn of the World by their Preciseness and what wisdom is there in that Answ 1. It is not for want of Ignorance that the men of the world scorn at their preciseness Alas poor creatures Did they but know how little hurt they do them and how much hurt they do themselves by that scorning did they but know how they provoke the great God by scorning at his Servants and Service and how sad an account they shall give at the last day and how much better it would have been for them to have been precise themselves they would never make such a scorn of preciseness as they do Had the very Children that mocked the Prophet 2 Kin. 2.23 24. known of the Bear durst they have done it Had the Jews foreseen the wrath of God breaking out against them without remedy durst they have mocked as they
thereby taken away from the evil to come And then 3. The shortning of this life doth but the sooner bring them to a Life of Glory in Heaven Indeed if their condition were the same with the condition of the ungodly if they lost Heaven and Earth the lives of their souls and bodies together If their death were an eternal death and the end of their temporal miseries the beginning of eternal torments it were a very sad argument but the case is not so bad Whatever they lose for Christ in this world shall be recompensed a thousandfold in the world to come with eternal Life Now lay all these things together and consider that this strictness or preciseness is commanded by God and is most sutable to the Rules of Christianity And dost thou profess thy self a Christan a Disciple of Christ a Servant of God and one that lives in hope of everlasting Life and hast thou not yet learn'd to forsake all deny thy self take up thy cross and follow Christ Certainly if thou be a Christian indeed and hast received that Wisdom which is from above none of these things will move thee neither wilt thou count thy life so dear to thee as for the saving it to forsake the holy Commandment Having now vindicated this Truth from those Objections that might seem to weaken it I proceed to give a brief hint what use may be made of it Use 1. If they that live most exactly are the wisest men then it is so far from being a shame to live exactly Psal 119.6 that it tends much to the justification and commendation of those that so order their conversations And certainly the world is much mistaken in their censure and judgment concerning them They think it strange that all do not run to the same excess of riot with them 1 Pet. 4.4 and speak evil of them as fools and mad men because they willingly forgo the pleasures and advantages of this present life for things future and invisible but the end will make it sufficiently to appear who are the fools and who are the wise men Therefore 2. Be exhorted and perswaded to exercise this piece of wisdom Wisdom it is and that of the best sort for it is Divine and Heavenly Wisdom So the Apostle tells us Jam. 3.17 That Wisdom which is pure and full of good fruits comes from above it is saving Wisdom In 2 Tim. 3.15 the Apostle tells us that the Scriptures are able to make a man wise to Salvation in as much as they were given by God to make men pefect throughly furnished unto all good works Labour then for this Scripture-Wisdom and search for it as for hid treasures it alone shall abide and the good fruits thereof remain with thee to Eternity when all other wisdom in the world shall perish and by its fall shall ruine the owners and professors thereof I have now finished the third Observation I must use much more brevity in those which remain and so I pass to the fourth which is this Doct. 4. That then especially in evil times we have much need of spiritual wisdom for the circumspect and exact ordering of our conversations Thus the Apostles Argument runs Walk circumspectly and redeem time because the dayes are evil This is a duty at all times but especially in evil times it is both a Duty and an Advantage That we may understand what is meant by evil times or Dayes we must know that there are two sorts of evil First The evil of sin whereof Devils and men are the only authors Secondly The evil of punishment or misery in this sence it is used in Jer. 17.17 18. Amos 6.3 and though sin be the meritorious cause of this evil and Devils and Men yea and good Angels also are made use as instruments of it yet God takes it upon himself as the Author thereof Amos 3.6 Thus the Times or Dayes are evil First When they are sinful Times such times as our Saviour foretold Mat. 24.11 12. When false prophets should arise and deceive many When iniquity should abound and the love of many should wax cold Secondly The Dayes are evil when they are full of trouble and misery These evil Dayes of both sorts are either 1. Common by reason of that sin and misery which are incident to every mans life Eccles 12.1 in respect whereof Jacob told Pharoah that the dayes of his life had been few and evil Gen 47.9 2. Or special When both sin and trouble do abound in more than ordinary measure Again these evil Dayes are either 1. General When both sin and misery do more than ordinarily abound in the World or in a Kingdom 2. Or particular When a man 's own particular life hath been extraordinarily full of sin and trouble The Apostle in the Text doth principally respect the special and general sinfulness and troublesomness of the times but in what kind soever the dayes are evil the evilness of them is an argument for circumspect walking and exact ordering of our conversations For if the Times be sinful 1. In sinful Times there is much liberty and encouragement to sin The Multitude run to sin the stream goes that way and it is an easy thing to go along with the stream but it is certain that the stream will carry a man to perdition So that if we would not perish in sinful times we must strive against the stream by circumspect walking These are those perillous Times from the authors whereof the Apostle warns Timothy to turn away 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6. 2. In Sinful Times there are many temptations and enticements to sin in which respect the Apostle calls such dayes evil dayes and therefore adviseth at such times especially to put on the whole Armour of God that we may be able to stand and keep our selves unspotted from the pollutions of the world Ephes 6.13 If the Times be evil in respect of the trouble and misery that attends them Then 1. In Times of Trouble and Misery a man hath most need to get and keep peace of conscience Oh! it is a sad thing for a man to be lost as much with storms of guilt within as with waves of trouble without But there is no getting or keeping true peace of conscience without circumspect and exact walking The fruit of Righteousness is sown in peace Jam. 3.18 2. In Troublesome Times a man had most need to get and keep the love and favour of God and thereby an interest in the Promises of this life or if those be forfeited yet to be sure of an interest in the Promises of the Life to come But this cannot be done without circumspect walking for it is only Godliness that hath the promises of the life that now is and that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.8 Use How preposterous and foolish a course is it then for any man to think to secure himself from the evil of the times by complying with the times to comply with the evil