complaint for want of glory nor of envying others that have more Christ after the day of Judgment shall remain King for ever for He shall not so deliver up the Kingdom to His Father 1 Cor. 15. 24. that He shall cease to reign But that He may represent to His Father that His Kingdom is compleat and shall remain so for ever The meaning of those words is thus when Christ as Mediator hath been established King of the whole World but especially of His Church to gather together govern and bring unto His Father all His Elect and to destroy His enemies shall have brought His work to an end and so deliver up the Kingdom to His Father that as verse 28. God may be all in all that is the Father with the Son and Holy Ghost in Unity of Essence and Glory shall begin to reign immediately over His Church in a manner altogether new namely by Himself without any outward means without the work of Angels or Men Ecclesiastical or Political Orders as it is in this world and likewise without any adversaries or oppositions filling all His with His light love life and glory Which indeed will not a whit disannul Christs Kingdom but only change the meaner form thereof into a more sublime majestical glorious and most perfect form That God may be all in all that is that God the whole blessed Trinity may immediately and absolutely work fully in all the Elect who shall then be perfectly united unto God and that He may Possess Govern and Rule them for ever Now to speak a little where these glorious mansions are in Heaven Philosophers speak of ten Heavens but we shall wave that and speak according to Scripture-phrase and so there are three Heavens 3 Heavens The first is all that whole space from the earth to the sphere of the Moon where the birds flie therefore they are called the folws of Heaven and whence Mat. 6. 26. the rain hail and snow thunder and lightning wind and other Meteors do descend So God opened the Windows Gen. 7. 11. Deut. 28. 12. of Heaven and poured down rain upon the earth The second Heaven is and consists of all those visible Orbs where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or whole expansion is called the Firmament Gen. 1. 14. 15. Gen. 1. 8. and God called the firmament Heaven and in this God hath placed the Sun Moon and other Stars which are called in Scripture the Stars of Heaven Num. 3. 16. The third Heaven is that where God is said especially to dwell whither Christ ascended whither St. Paul in a 2 Cor. 12. 2. rapture was caught up into this third Heaven and where all the blessed ones shall be for ever This is the Heaven whereof we now speak Objection But some may ask Where the Soul is when it goeth out of the body and in what condition the Soul lives being separate from the body until the day of Judgment The Papists feign a Purgatory that Solution they may be purged from their sins which is contrary to the Scripture For the Scripture teacheth us that not the sire of Purgatory after this life of which there is no mention made in Scripture but the blood of Christ laid hold on and applied by a lively faith while we are here in this life doth cleanse our souls from all sin And 1 John 1. 7. that the souls of the faithful after death are not thrust into a place of torment but that they are gathered unto Christ into Abrahams bosome The meaning Luk. 16. 23. of into Abrahams bosome is thus it is the gesture of a good Father towards his little and tender Children to cherish them in his bosome The souls of the faithful presently after their departure out of the body are carry'd by the Angels up into heaven into the communion of all true believers of whom Abraham was the Titular Father and therefore called the Father of the faithful Rom. 4. 16 I say That presently after death the soul appears before God to Judgment Eccl. 12. 7. either to be gathered into the Mansions of the blessed or to be cast into Hell into the state of the damned from whence there is no redemption and then truly are tormented in those infernal flames but yet are reserved for greater torments against the last Day when soul and body shall be joyned together again And for this the Scripture is very clear So our Saviour said Father into Thy hands I commit my Spirit Luk. 23. 46. Stephen at his death kneeled down and said Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Acts 7. 59. Phil. 1. 23. 2 Cor. 5. 8 Paul desireth to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all Therefore not in Purgatory So the faithful are desirous and willing to be absent from the body that they may be present with the Lord. And this is the last Article of Faith as the Crown of all I believe the life everlasting or that there is an everlasting life which holds out these three things 1. I believe that after this life there shall be another life in which all the true members of the Church shall be glorifi'd and shall praise God for ever and ever 2. I believe that I am a member of this Church and so shall be a partaker of everlasting life 3. That in this life I have by Faith the beginning of everlasting life For Christ said He that believeth in Me Joh. 3. 36. hath everlasting life So this profit and comfort hence redoundeth unto me that in and through Christ I am justifi'd before God and am an heir of everlasting life Q. Shall we know each other and our Relations in heaven A. Mark the saying of the Apostle Henceforth know we no man after the 2 Cor. 5. 16. flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet henceâ—orth know we Him no more that is not with an affection meerly humane civil and natural but wholly with a Divine and spiritual affection befitting the state of glory Having premised this I answer in this Syllogism We shall enjoy in heaven every good thing and comfortable gift which may any way increase or add to our joy and happiness But meeting in heaven with our old dear Christian friends knowing of them and enjoying them never to part more either with them or all other the glorious Inhabitants in those heavenly Mansions will ravish us with sweetest delight Therefore we shall know one another in heaven nay our minds being abundantly enlightned with all wisdom and knowledg we shall be able to know not only those holy persons of our former relation or acquaintance but also such as we never knew before in the flesh even all the faithful which ever were are or shall be We shall be able then to say This was Abraham Isaac or Jacob Samuel David c. This was my Father Mother this was my child c. This was he
the words in our Church-Catechism are a death unto sin and a new-birth unto righteousness So said the Apostle buried with Christ in Baptism wherein also we are risen with Him through faith c. Col. 2. 12. God who usually accompanies His own Ordinance with His blessing will not frustrate our expectation in any of those good things which He hath promised therefore we must strive to be perswaded that remission of sins and regeneration or a renewedness of life by Baptism is offered unto us and that we receive it therein In as much as by Baptism we are incorporated into Christ and receive His Holy Spirit unless we reject the promises there made unto us and so render them unprofitable to our selves The right use of Baptism is placed in faith and repentance if thou wouldst use Baptism aright as it should be then repent and believe so we read in sundry places of the Gospels and also in the Acts of the Apostles that is that we be perswaded that we are purged by the blood of Christ from our sins and be sensible that we have His holy Spirit dwelling in us and so daily to meditate of mortifying our corrupt flesh and of yielding obedience to all Gods commands Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament by the washing of water representing the powerful washing of Eph. 5. 26. the Blood and Spirit of Christ and so 1 Cor. 6. 11. Heb. 10. 22. sealing up our regeneration or new birth our entrance into the Covenant of Grace our ingraffing into Christ and into His mystical body which is the Joh. 3. 5. Tit. 3. 5. Church Acts 8. 27. This Sacramental washing sealeth to those that are within Gods Covenant their birth in Christ and entrance into Christianity The Covenant which is in general to all believers is in Baptism especially made and established with every one of the faithful And it is always ratified and sure even to them that fall when they do repent Although Novatus and his Sect taught otherwise Neither do they enter into a new Covenant after their falls but that which was entered into is restored renewed and confirmed again We must often meditate on and consider of the Covenant made and entered into in our Baptism Baptism came in place of circumcision and keepeth analogy and proportion with it for both of them were a Sacrament of entrance or of receiving into the Covenant of Grace Baptism came in place of circumcision 1. By the command of God God sent John to baptize with water so we have it Joh. 1. 33. 2. By the Ministry of John therefore he was called John the Baptist so we have it Mat. 3. 1 In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness c. 3. It was sanctified and confirmed by our Saviour Christ Himself being baptized by John Mat. 3. 13. 4. By his giving commission to His Apostles and Ministers to continue the Mat. 28. 18. same in His Church unto the end Baptism is therefore also called the circumcision made without hands or tâ—ue regeneration in the Spirit in puting off the body of the sins of the flesh Col. 2. 11 by the circumcision of Christ That is by virtue of the gift of regeneration which is the spiritual circumcision whereof Christ alone is the workeâ— Buried with Him in Baptism c. So Baptism is our Circumcision on comes to us in the place of Circumcision that is by which the same things are confirmed and in all things assured to us in the Nâ—w Testament which were confirmed and conferred on those in the Old Testament by Circumcision The words of institution of Baptism are recorded in Mat. 28. 19. Mark 16. 14. Go ye into all the world and preach theâ— Gospel to every creature that is to every rational and intelligent creature or Teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned To be baptized in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost signifies and imports these things 1. That it is done by the command of God 2. To testifie that by this Rite and Ceremony that he that is thus baptized is received into Grace and favour by the eternal Father for and through His Son and is sanctified by the Holy Ghost We must still understand this of believers and them alone for Mark 16. 1â— He that believeth not shall be damned and that for all his Baptism unless he believe So here is the principal end of Baptism 3. To be baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost is to shew that the pâ—â—son baptized is bound to know and acknowledg to believe and trust in to worship and fear to honour and call upon this true God Father Son and Holy Ghost and this is the second end of Baptism which St. Paul shews in these words 1 Cor. 1. 13 Were ye baptized in the name of â—aul â—â— as much as if he had said ye must be His to whom in Baptism ye have given and obliged your selves given your names unto and in whose name ye were baptiâ—eâ— Of Baptism there are two parts 1. The water of Baptism 2. The lawful use thereof 1. By the water of Baptism is signified both the Spirit and the Blood of Christ spilt upon the Cross This is that blood of sprinkling which speaketh better Heb 12. 24. things than that of Abel We are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without 1 Pet. 1. 19. spot This is the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness Zech. 13. 1. As the Blood of Christ so also the Spirit of Christ is signified by the water of Baptism Therefore said our Saviour If any man thirst let him come unto Me Joh. 7. 37 38 39. and drink he that believeth on Me out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive John indeed baptized with water but Acts 11. 16 â—e shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost The lawful use of the water of Bapâ—ism is perceived in the action both of the Minister administring it and also of the faithful who receive Baptism The action of the Minister is twoâ—old 1. The Sanctification of the water 2. The outward washing 1. The Sanctification of the water is the setting it apart to this end to signifie the Blood and Spirit of Christ by His ordinance and institution which the words of institution do declare 2. The outward washing is a most sure sign pledg and seal of the inward washing whereby we with the Blood and Spirit of Christ are washed from out sins He hath washed us from our sins Rev. 1. 5. in His own blood So many of us as Rom. 3. 1. are baptized into Jesus Christ are
could not be induced to Print it But he writes Religious books doth as one said Retia salutis expandere spread the nets of Salvation to catch souls in and the good works of Rev. 14. 13. such will last as long as their Books live and follow them also after death I cannot Momo satisfacere as the Proverb is satisfie one who will do nothing himself but carp and cavil at every thing another doth whether deservedly or undeservedly Neither care I much for a detracting Zoilus whom I answer with the Poet Pexatus pulchrè rides mea Zoile trita Sunt haec trita quidem Zoile sed mea sunt Leaving these following Exercitations and Meditations to your most serious Meditation and your Meditations to Gods especial blessing and setting it home upon your hearts by His Holy Spirit that God in all things may be glorified and the salvation of Souls furthered against that great and notable day of the Lord Jesus to whom I commend you and remain Your Friend and Servant Sam. Thomsonn Esse tibi tantâ cautus brevitate videris Hei mihi quà m multis sic quoque longus eris Martial ad librum THE CONTENTS Exercitation I. OF the Covenant and our Covenant interest in God upon these words Ezek. 16. 8 I entered into a Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest Mine Where is discussed 1. What a Covenant is The difference between a Law Covenant and Testament The Covenant of God with man twofold 1. Of Works 2. Of Grace What the Covenant of Works was it was confirmed by a double Sacrament proving that God dealt with man in a Covenant way How God can be said to Covenant with man Why God deals with man in a Covenant way rather than in a meer supream absolute way Gods great mercy therein Of the Covenant of Grace Four Reasons why all depends upon faith The sum of the Covenant of Grace The Covenant of grace divided into the old and new first and second The Covenant of grace is one in substance proved by two arguments Three things wherein the old and new Covenant agree Fight things wherein they differ Inferences thereupon The happiness of all those that are in Covenant with God and the miseries of those who are not Exhortations comforts and admonitions to those that are in Covenant with God God hath confirmed his Covenant four ways to us How to know if we are in Covenant with God The blessings ensuing thereon A farther description of Gods Covenanting with us A short Paraphrase on Jehovah God in the Old Testament revealed himself by ten names The Conclusion Exercitation II. 1. Of Sacraments in general There first what a Sacrament is How many Sacraments there are Of the word Sacrament whence borrowed and how used A Sacrament is a mysterie and why so Of the outward signs The external and internal form The Sacraments are signs in a fourfold respect Three thrings required in a Sacrament The ends of Sacraments are three Our want and need of Sacraments c. 2. Of the Sacrament of Baptism in particular Of the word Baptism Word Baptism used six ways A fourfold Baptism Baptism represents unto us two things The right use of baptism What baptism is How baptism came in place of circumcision Four ways To be baptized in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the S. S. implies three things Two parts of baptism The action of the Minister is twofold the inward baptism is done 1. By the Blood 2. by the Holy Spirit of Christ The ends of baptism are four In baptism Original sin is taken away c. Why was Christ baptized answered in four things How baptism belongs to Infants Infant-baptism asserted by nine Arguments Answer to an Oâ—jection That we have no rule or example for â—aptizing of Infants What warraâ—â— we have for sprinkling answered in â—our things How circumcision and baptism do agree answered in three things Wherein they differ answered in six things Four Aphorisms about baptism Exercitation III. Of the Lords Supper the second Sacrament of the New Testament It hath six appellations What the Lords Supper is A short Paraphrase upon the definition of the Lords Supper The signs and the things signified The analogy and proportion between them How the cup of the Lord is the new Covenant in two respects What are the ends of the Lords Supper answered at large in five respects and more especially in three respects How and wherein bread and wine represent Christs body and blood By this Sacrament our Communion with Christ is sealed and confirmed Two abuses of the Papists 1. Offering up Christs body c. 2. Denying the Cup to the Laity What it is to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ This signifies four things This our eating c. is our Communion with Christ That place 1 Cor. 10. 16 17 explained The Bread and Wine are the sign and testimony of our Communion with Christ About Transubstantiation Seven Arguments against it and four Reasonâ— against it What Consubstantiation is Five Reasons against it This is a Sacrament not of Christs living or glorified body but his crucified body and that two ways The outward actions of the Minister are four What each signifie The outward actions of the receiver are two what they signifie Q. Who are to be admitted to be partakers of this Sacrament Answered in three particulars Three things to be performed of every worthy communicant 1. Preparation before the right manner of it and several things wherein it consists 2. Heedfulness in the duty of receiving consists in four things 3. A thankful close consisting in two things What it is to do this in remembrance of Christ in three things The allegory between Christ and the Paschal Lamb explained in thirteen particulars Some sentences about the Supper Exercitation IV. Fear God Eccles 12. 13 The whole verse is thus Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep His Commandments for this is the whole duty of man The fear of God is commanded in the first Commandment The scope and meaning of the first Commandment Seven virtues or parts of obedience due to the first Commandment Descriptions of the fear of God Fear due to God Twofold fear of God as 1. Servile 2. Filial both described Three things wherein servile and filial fear differ Some things oppose the fear of God in excess and some in defect Nine acceptations or significations of fear in Scripture What the fear of God is which is here required Many Encouragements out of Scripture to fear God Several Encomiums or Praises of the fear of God all wholly also out of the Scripture Exhortation to the fear of God Q. What fear Saints may have in the service of God answered in two things Differences between the fear of the Godly and the fear of the wicked God requires the reverence both of a Father and also of a Master An answer to that place in 1 Joh. 4.
other true believers that God for ever will be the God of His people and of their posterity also if they walk in God's ways and make not void His Covenant And they again promise and oblige themselves to God to be His people to keep His Covenant by believing in Him and obeying His Commandments Let all those that truly endeavour to keep Covenant with God beware of Covenant-breaking if they fail that way be duly humbled for it and be more watchful and wary for the future striving to recover themselves by serious and renewed repentance Let them set God always before their Psal 16. 8. eyes endeavouring to walk before Him Gen. 17. 1. and to be perfect The meaning is let them bear God always in their mind as present with them rest themselves by faith on Him alone depend upon His Providence and regulate all their actions according to His Will revealed in His Word God hath made His Covenant between Him and all such and God declares it is so and enlargeth on it saying to Abraham I will establish My Verse 2. 4. 7. Covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee These words to be a God to thee signifie as if God had said By virtue of my Covenant I will communicate to thee and thy seed the effects of all the perfections of My nature and all that I am in My Self I will be on their behalf and as I do live eternally so will I cause all mine to live likewise And so in reference to our part of the Covenant it is as much as if God had said I will be He alone whom thou shalt serve acknowledge and worship as God and upon whom alone thou shalt absolutely depend forsaking all others For so the words of the Covenant are I will put My Law in their inward Jer. 31. 33 34. parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be My people and they shall all know Me from the least even to the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more And in Ezekiel it is laid down thus Ezek. 36. 25 26 27. I will sprinkle clean water upon you even the sanctifying Graces of My Spirit and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I cleanse you A new-heart also will I give you and a new-spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you an heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and ye shall keep My judgments and do them They that are thus brought into the Ezek. 20. 37. bond of the Covenant may say and so said the Apostle Paul I am perswaded Rom. 8. 38 39 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 ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I entered into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God it is in the Hebrew the Lord Jehovah Where-ever in Scripture in the Old Testament the Word Lord or God is written in great or Capital Letters it is in the Hebrew Jehovah Jehovah setteth out God's eternity in that it contains all times to come or present or past The 3 syllables in the word Jehovah contain the notes of all times The first syllable Je denotes the time to come The second Ho the time present The third Vah the time past God hath His being and is from Himself He always is always liveth and always is the same For He is unchangeable Mal. 3. 6. So none can say IAM but Exod. 3. 14. God alone Thus the title given to Christ which Rev. 1 4 8. is and which was and which is to come is an express interpretation of Jehovah It sets out also God's Self-existency coming from the Verb that signifieth to be God gives a being to Himself to His Creatures and to His Promises When-ever in Scripture some special Levit. 19. 12 14 16 18 25 30 34 37. Mercy is promised or some extraordinary Judgment threatned the Name of Jehovah is affixed or added I am Jehovah To shew that God is just and faithful in the performance both of His promises and threatnings This Name Jehovah as the Hebrews well note consisteth of Letters quiescent or Letters of rest to shew that there is no rest till we come to Jehovah and that in Him we may safely rest There the wicked cease Job 3. 17. from troubling and there the weary be at rest The Septuagint in the Greek Translation do almost every-where render the Name Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord for He that is Jehovah namely whose essence and being is from Himself who giveth to all their beings and preserveth and upholdeth them therein He is most absolutely and properly Lord. Jehovah sometimes is used essentially for the three Persons in the blessed Trinity joyntly as Exodus 20 2 5 7. Sometimes personally for the Father Jehovah said to my Lord sit thou on my Psal 110. 1. right hand c. that is God the Father to God the Son Sometime Jehovah is used personally for the Son as Jehovah rained from Gen. 19. 24. Jehovah fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah out of Heaven that is God the Father from God the Son For the Father hath committed all judgment Joh. 5. 22. to the Son And sometimes the Name Jehovah is given to the Holy Ghost as it is understood and gathered out of Numb 12. 6. God in the Hebrew tongue in the Old Testament hath been pleased to name and manifest Himself by ten Names whereof three are from His being or ab esse as Jehovah Jah Ehejeh Sum Ero from His eternal Essence Three more from His Almighty Power or a posse as El Eloheh Elohim And three from His being over all or a prae-esse as Adonai Shaddai Jehovah Tzebaoth or Deus exercituum the Lord of Hosts And the last Name of God is from His eminency or ab eminere Gnel jon which signifies God above all or Lord over all This last Name of God is used in Psal 73. 11. Is there knowledg in the most High And in Genes 14. 10. 20. Blessed be Abraham of the most High God the possessor of Heaven and Earth And blessed be the most High God c. He alone is King of Kings and Lord Rev. 19. 16. of Lords By His Name Jehovah hath He been Exod. 6. 3. Isai 26. 4. made known to us Therefore trust we in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength As all things were made by Him and for Him so all things are upheld and preserved by Him He
the body for our thoughts are before His face The easiest way of explaining or understanding the Commandments is by dividing the obedience due to every Commandment into its proper virtues as parts and then the vices contrary to those virtues will easily appear As there are these seven virtues or parts of obedience due to the first Commandment 1. The acknowledging of God 2. Faith in God 3. Hope 4. Love of God 5. Fear of God 6. Humility 7. Patience But here we are to speak only of the fear of God The true fear of God is to acknowledge the extream anger of God against sin and His power to punish it and to esteem our displeasing of God or offending Him and consequently an estrangedness from Him as the greatest evil and therefore extreamly to hate and detest sin and to be ready rather to suffer any evil than to offend in any thing Or thus The fear of God is from acknowledging of His Wisdom Power Justice and Right which He hath over all creatures and out of subjection unto Him not willing to offend Him Levit. 19. 14. Thou shalt fear thy God I am the Lord. God is feared as He is just and powerful to punish in regard of the evil of punishment which He can inflict So we stand in such a Godly fear as not to do any thing but that which maketh for God's glory and yet this is not a servile fear whereby one is afraid to be damned but an awful filial fear whereby we are afraid to offend our Maker and Heavenly Father So our Saviour bids Mat. 10. 28. us rather fear Him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell So St. Peter bids us to pass the time of our sojourning 1 Pet. 1. 17. here in fear Let us have grace whereby Heb. 12. 28. we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear For as a Father pityeth his Son so the Lord pityeth them that fear Him Whereas all carnal fear and especially the fearing of any thing more than God is here condemned Fear ye not their fear neither be afraid Isai 8. 12 13. but sanctifie the Lord of Hosts Himself and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread I even I am He saith the 51. 12 13. Lord that comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the Son of man that shall be made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy maker c. and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressour as if he were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the oppressour Fear not them which kill the body but Mat. 10. 28. are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell We should be more afraid to displease God than any other and this fear of God should be stronger to move us to do good than the fear of man to move us to do evil There is a twofold fear of God 1. Filial 2. Slavish 1. Filial which is from acknowledging of sin and the anger of God against it and from a serious grief for sins committed because of offending God thereby and in regard of calamities that we and others endure for sin and a fear of future sins and punishments with an ardent desire of avoiding those evils through the acknowledging of God's mercy shewed to us in and through Christ This is usually called filial fear because it is such a fear as dutiful Children have toward their Father grieving for the anger and displeasure of their father and fearing least they should offend him again and so be punished for it and yet are always perswaded of their fathers love and good-will towards them and therefore love him and through this love do grieve the more because they have offended him So we read of Peter that when he had denyed his Master he went forth and wept bitterly Mat. 26. 75. But servile and slavish fear is such as of Servants to their Masters to avoid punishment without faith and without a desire and striving to amend and is usually joyned with despair and a with-drawing from God and fleeing away from Him Filial and slavish fear differ in these three things 1. Filial fear proceedeth from our trust and confidence in God and love to Him But servile fear ariseth from a sight of sin and sins flying in the face with the sence of judgment and of the wrath of God 2. Filial fear principally turneth away from sin which displeases God but not from God Himself But servile fear is a fleeing from and a hatred not of sin but of punishments and judgments of God and so at length with a fleeing from and a hatred of God Himself 3. Filial fear is joyned with some assurance of salvation and everlasting life and so draws us nearer to God But a servile fear is joyned with an expectation of everlasting damnation and casting away from God and so drives farther from Him which is so much the more in them as their doubting or despair of the Grace and Mercy of God is more or less This slavish fear is in the Devils and wicked men and is the beginning of everlasting death which the wicked and ungodly do feel even in this life So said Cain to God My punishment is Gen. 4. 14. greater than I can bear Behold Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth and from thy face I shall be hid and I shall be a fugitive a vagabond in the earth c. So Ahaz his heart Isai 7. 2. was moved and the hearts of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind And so Saul he was afraid 1 Sam. 28. 5. and his heart greatly trembled The Jam. 2. 19. Devils believe and tremble There are some things do oppose and resist the fear of God in defect and some in excess 1. In excess as servile fear and despair of which we spoke something before 2. In defect as 1. Prophaneness 2. Carnal security 3. Contempt of God 4. An Idolatrous fear The wicked are utterly devoyd of all fear and reverence of God they have Psal 36. 1. no fear of God before their eyes an idolatrous fear is not that fear alone which is from idols as the poor Heathen Indians worship the Devil because he should not hurt them but that fear also which is from men and from the world when a man fears them more than he fears God Some carnal security may be in the Godly yet it is otherwise with them than in the wicked It is so in the Godly that the fear of God is not altogether cast out of their heart but the 1 King 14. 9. wicked like Jeroboam cast God behind their back So God complains of the Ezek. 33. 35. Jews they had forgotten Him and cast him behind their
back and that they had cast away the Law There is no fear Isai 5. 24. Psal 36. 1. of God before their eyes Like the unjust Judge who neither feared God nor regarded man We may have cause to Luk. 18. 2. fear such as Abraham said of the Philistins at Gerar Because I thought that Gen. 20 11. 1 Sam. 21. 10 23. 26. the fear of God is not in this place and they will slay me for my wifes sake So David fled for fear of Saul There are many acceptations of fear in Scripture 1. It is taken for natural fear which is a certain natural affection whereby men are stricken by reason of some natural or hurtful evil either true or imagined So Jacob said of his brother Gen. 32. 11. Esau I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the mothers with the children So the City of Jericho feared because of Israel So Peter being on the Josh 2. 9 11. Mat. 14. 30. 28. 4. Sea when he saw the wind boysterous was afraid and cryed out c. This natural fear is in it self neither good nor evil It was in Christ Himself as He was man It becomes evil and sinful Heb. 5. 7. Mark 14. 33. when distrust is mixed with it 2. There is a free voluntary fear and reverence which inferiours shew to their superiours making them careful to obey and loth to offend and that for the Lord's sake Let the wise see Eph. 5. 33. that she reverence her husband but the word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that she fear her husband So render to all their due fear to whom fear Rom. 13. ◠belongeth 3. Fear sometimes in Scripture is taken for the thing or danger feared the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me said Job and that which I was Job 3. 25. Prov. 1. 27. afraid of is come unto me When their fear cometh as desolation c. that is when that which they feared cometh c. 4. For the person which is feared In this sence God is called the fear of Isaac So Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac that is by God whom Isaac Gen. 31. 42 53. feared a Metonymie 5. Fear in Scripture sometime is taken for an holy affection of the heart awing us and making us loth to displease God by sin in respect of His great goodness and mercies and for a love we bear to righteousness There is mercy Psal 130. 4. with Thee that Thou mayest be feared This is a filial or child-like fear spoken of before The Godly are commanded Job 1. 2. Acts 10. 2. thus to fear and are commended for it so is Job and so Cornelius that they feared God 6. For a terrour in the heart of wicked men fearing God as a Judge being loth to offend Him by sin in regard of His punishments and not from any hatred of wickedness Thus Felix trembled Acts 24. 25. and feared This is servile and slavish fear spoken of also before 7. Fear is taken for the whole worship of God Thou shalt fear the Lord. In every nation he that feareth God and Deut. 6. 13. Acts 10. 35. Prov. 1. 7. Psal 112. 1. 128. 1. worketh righteousness is accepted of Him Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord where is a Synechdoche of the part for the whole For where the fear of God is truly planted there will follow the whole worship of God 8. To think upon dangerous things which breed fear So thine heart shall Isai 33. 18. meditate fear 9. For a great terrour and fear from God which was sent on the hearts of the men of those Cities of the Canaanites that they pursued not after the sons of Gen. 35. 5. Jacob to slay them And the fear of 2 Chr. 17. 10. God was upon those cities round about them c. Thus we see the several significations and acceptations of fear in Scripture and also what the true fear of God is which is whereby we so fear and reverence His holy Majesty and His Word that we take heed by all means of offending so gracious a Father not so much for fear of punishment as out of true love to God Several encouragements out of Scripture to fear God 1. God wisheth it Oh that they would fear Me that it may be Deut. 5. 29. well with them and with their children and for their good alwayes 6. 24. 2. The secret of the Lord is with them Psal 25. 14. that fear Him and He will shew them His Covenant He will teach them 119. 102. 3. There is no want to them that fear Him The young lyons shall lack and Psal 34. 9 10. suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord shall lack no good thing 33. 18 19. Prov. 22. 4. By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches honour and life There is Psal 11 1. 5. 112. 1 2. Prov. 15. 16. Psal 61. 5. a special heritage belongs to those that fear God therefore David said Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear Thy name That is as these present so also eternal good things which properly belong to God's Children wherein they of the world have no part at all 4. The Lord is nigh them that fear Psal 85. 9. Him And blessed are they to whom the Lord is nigh to hear and help Moses described the happiness of Israel herein and said What nation is there so great Deut. 4. 7. who hath the Lord so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is to us in all things that we call upon Him for Surely His salvation is nigh them that Psal 85. 9. fear Him c. In the fear of the Lord is strong considence Prov. 14. 26. and his children shall have a place of resuge The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting Psal 103. 11 to everlasting on them that fear Him c. He will fulsil the desire of them that 145. 19. fear Him He also will hear their cry and save them For the Lord taketh pleasure in them 147. 11. that fear Him in those that hope in His mercy The fear of the Lord prolongeth days Prov. 10. 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of 14. 27. life to depart from the snares of death The fear of the Lord tendeth to life 19. 23. and he that hath it shall be satisfied To you that fear My name shall the Mal. 4. 2. Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings c. His mercy is on them that fear him Luk. 1. 50. from generation to generation Who is among you that feareth the Isai 50. 10. Lord that obeyeth the voice of His servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon His God
precept drives on to an endeavour of obedience and well-pleasing Slavish fear forceth a man to do the duty some way or other without any regard to the manner of doing of it There is also another branch of a holy filial fear when we thinking on the examples of God's vengeance shewed on wicked men for their sins do take care not to fall into the same sins lest we have the same punishments and so crave aid and assistance of God against them depending upon His Grace and assistance by His Spirit For we are of the same flesh and blood as they were and bear about us a body of sin So said the Apostle These things were our 1 Cor. 10. 6. to 12. examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them c. Neither let us commit fornication c. Neither let us tempt Christ c. Neither murmur as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Now all these things happened to them for ensamples and were written for our admonition c. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall Therefore we are bid to work out our Phil. 2. 12. own salvation with fear and trembling Seeing our own weakness wretchedness and sinfulness to lye low in our own sight and to look up unto and rest upon the Almighty Power and Grace of God Nothing so much awakens us to cast all our confidence upon God and by faith to rely upon Him as to have a distrust of our selves seeing our own weakness and frailty And when we thus go out of our selves resting wholly upon God it always goes best with us Ephraim was Hosâ—â— 1â— 1. heard in that he â—eared Therefore Solomon said happy is the man that feareth always Prov. 28. 14. How wretched soever we be of our selves by faith we know that through God's most gracious acceptation of us in Christ we shall be blessed God requires to Himself the reverence both of a Father and also of a Master A son honoureth his father and a servant Mal. 1. 6. his master If then I be a father where is mine honour and if I be a master where is my fear saith the Lord of hosts He that truly worshippeth God will endeavour to shew himself both a dutiful Son and an obedient Servant unto Him Therefore let the fear of God be a reverence joyned with honour Q. But how shall we answer that place there is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear 1 Joh. 4. 18. hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love A. The wicked fear not displeasing God so that they may do it without punishment but because they do know God is armed with power to revenge therefore they tremble and fear apprehending His wrath and vengeance But the Godly fear to displease and offend God more than they fear the punishments And therefore they are the more careful wary and watchful The fear which the Apostle John there speaks of is slavish fear There is no such slavish fear in love but perfect love casteth out that fear that is our true lively and sincere love to God carryeth it self no longer towards God with a simple fear of His terrible Majesty and Judgments but with a sweet humble and reverend apprehension of His Grace and goodness by which He hath made and declared Himself most amiable and lovely to the soul whereby is begotten hope and confidence in Him Q. How may we understand that place Ye have not received the spirit of Rom. 8. 15. bondage again to fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father A. There is a threefold operation of the Holy Ghost in those that are led by Him 1. He is unto them a Spirit of bondage working fear 2. He is a Spirit of adoption working love through the sence of God's mercy for He not only makes them the Sons of God but intimates to their Spirits God's love towards them that they are His Sons 3. He is a Spirit of intercession making Rom. 8. 26. them to go with boldness to the throne of Grace and call upon God as their Father We are now to speak only of the first The Godly usually in the first act of Conversion feel the Spirit casting them down in the sight of their sins rebuking them for sin and convincing them of sin letting them see the bondage and servitude under which they lye that they are slaves of Sathan and guilty of everlasting damnation which works in them great fear As the proclaiming of the Law wrought in the Children of Exod. 20. 18 19. Israel great terrour and amazement So John Baptist began at the Preaching of Mat. 3. 10. the Law and the people asked him Luk. 3. 10. what shall we do that we may be saved And yet the Apostle here doth not compare the Godly under the Law with the Godly under the Gospel but the Godly under the Gospel with themselves their second experience of the operation of the Spirit in them with the first Whereas in the first operation He was a Spirit of bondage now He is a Spirit of adoption God is pleased to bring us by the gates of Hell to Heaven First deeply to humble us then to exalt and comfort us So then the meaning of these words ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear is thus Albeit in the time of your first Conversion you were stricken with a fear of that wrath which is the recompence of sin yet now the Spirit of adoption hath not only released you of that fear of damnation which you conceived at the first through the sight and sence of your sins but also hath assured you of Salvation making you certain that God is become your Father in Christ Jesus All the terrours and fears wherewith God humbles his children at the first are but preparatives to his comforts and Consolations that they may be the more sweet to the Soul In this 15th verse of Rom. 8. Two effects of the Spirit are opposed For in some the Spirit worketh fear in others love and assurance and first fear then assurance In all the elect which are of years of discretion the Spirit worketh a slavish fear first before the filial assurance fear is the sign of the Spirit of bondage confidence and assurance in God as a Father is the proper effect of the Spirit of adoption So the Jews at Peters Sermon were Acts 2. 37. first pricked at the heart and after comforted in assurance of forgiveness All are brought to this exigent more or less that they may acknowledg they stand in need of Christ and be stirred up to seek out after him Such as were never afraid were never assured So none have the Spirit of adoption but such as have had the Spirit of bondage
it or as in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quid deprecabor why shall I pray against it any longer Remember the case of Israel when they were even at their Journeys end near upon the borders of the promised land because of their murmuring and impatiency hear their terrible doom from the Lord As truly as I live saith the Lord as ye have spoken in mine ears Numb 14. 28 to 36. so will I do to you your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and all that were numbered of you from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshuah the son of Nun. But your little ones which ye said should be a prey them will I bring but as for you your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredomes until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness After the number of the days in which ye searched the land even forty days each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years and ye shall know my breach of promise I the Lord have spoken it I will surely do it c. in this wilderness they shall be consumed and there they shall dye Take heed of fretting against the Lord and of impatiency of spirit lest the same or the like judgment befall thee But say with David as here My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from Him EXERCITATION THE SIXTH Mark 1. 15. Repent ye and believe the Gospel HEre our Saviour sets down the way that lost man must take to come to God whom doth our blessed Lord invite to come unto Him those that labour and are heavy-laden Repentance Mat. 11. 28. and Faith are the way whereby we come unto God Christ is primarily the way for no man cometh to the Father but by Joh. 14. 6. Him He is the immediate way but these are the ways in and through Him which He hath prescribed 1. To speak of Repentance We must know our sins feel the weight of them be truly sensible of them and that we are no way able to help our selves else we will never come to Christ and never seek out for a Saviour for the whole have no need of a Mat. 9. 11. Physician but they that be sick while we think our selves whole and healthy we are well enough but it is the sin-sick Soul that sees his want and need of this great Physician the Lord Jesus So Desinition then Repentance is a hearty grief for my sins even because thereby I have broken God's holy Laws and offended such a gracious Father which works in me a hatred and loathing of sin and of my self for sin with a resolution to lead a new life Now there is a legal Division repentance which is a grief of mind through the sence of God's wrath threatned against sin without any true hatred of sin There is also secondly an Evangelical repentance which is a through change of a sinner in mind will and actions from evil to good The former of these was in Ahab who put on sack-cloth and went softly c. 1. Kings 21. 26. when he heard the evil threatned against him and his house and this may be in wicked men through fear of punishment and of hell not for their sins against God so upon the next temptation they run into sin again But Evangelical repentance which is because we have broken God's Laws and offended so gracious a Majesty this it makes us more watchful over our ways more desirous and careful to please God more Eph. 5. 15. Gen. 17. 1. Psal 16. 8. 2 Cor. 7. 10 11. fearful to offend Him more circumspect in our walking before Him setting Him before our eyes Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto life not to be repented of whereas legal repentance which is common to wicked men worketh death or is the fore-runner of death whose grief is from an apprehension of their miseries or some wounding of their Consciences for their sins without faith or amendment or conversion unto God whereby all their repentance is in them an entrance or a way to a death But behold the good effects of a serious Evangelical repentance The self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a Godly sort what sorrow it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge I know that some do take the former part of this sentence meerly in a literal sence Wordly sorrow causeth death that is sorrow or grief for outward crosses and losses causeth such anguish of mind so affecting the body that brings sicknesses diseases and death at last We see then that true repentance is an inward and hearty sorrow for sin especially that we have offended so gracious a God and so loving a Father together with a setled purpose of heart and a careful endeavour to leave and Psal 119. 112. forsake all our sins and to live a Christian life according to all Gods Commandments So the parts of repentance are 1. A The parts of true repentance are â—our confession of sin 2. a Bewailing what we have confessed 3. Lifting our selves up with confidence in Gods mercies and Christs merits 4. With a firm purpose of abstaining from sin and obeying Gods Commandments Let us a little farther consider these 1. An humble Confession I acknowledged my sins unto thée and mine iniquities Psal 32. 5 have I not hidden I said I will confess mine iniquities unto the Lord. 2. A bewailing Dan. 9. 6. 8. Ezra 9. 6. of what we have confessed We are ashamed and blush to lift up our faâ—es to thee O our God for our iniquities are increased over our heads c. Psal 38. 18. I will be sorry for my sins 3. A lifting up of our selves in confidence of Gods mercies through Christs merits There Psal 130. 3. is mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared In the multitude of thy mercies I come unto thee with the Lord there Psal 5. â— Psal 130. 7. is mercy and with Him there is plenteous redemption And through Christs merits Christ dyed for the ungodly To Rom. 5 6. this end Christ both dyed and rose Rom. 14. 9. and revived that He might be Lord both of dead and living Christ dyed for our 1 Cor. 15. 3. 1 John 2 2. Heb. 7. 25. sins according to the Scriptures He is the Propitiation for our sins And He is able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by Him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Fourth part of repentance is a stedfast resolution of forsaking sin and of obeying Gods holy Commandments I hate every false way whoso confesseth Psal 101. 3. Prov.
Faith fills the heart full of spiritual joy and therefore these two are joyned together believing we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory And so 1 Pet 1. 8. 2 Pet. 1. 6 10. a believer strives to add to his faith vertue c. to grow and increase more and more never to give over reaching forth and pressing toward the mark if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection Phill. 3. 11. of the dead to attain to such a measure of Grace and Holiness as I shall have at the resurrection of the dead when I shall receive the end of my faith 1 Pet. 1. 9. even the salvation of my soul where faith shall for ever be swallowed up with fruition EXERCITATION THE SEVENTH Psal 93. 5. Holiness becometh Thine house O Lord for ever HOliness in the Septuagint is rendered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sanctimonia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sanctus which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some say is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veneratio ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veneror colo Then it implies that holy persons are true worshippers of God 2. Others derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a privative particle and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 terra quasi extra terram vel sine â—erra then it denotes that Saints must not be glewed to the earth but trample all earthly things under their feet 3. Others derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 duco because the Godly are led in the ways of God So said the Apostle As many as Rom. 8. 14. are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God Holiness is the end of our election for God chose us in Christ before the Eph. 1. 4. foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love This Holiness makes the Church and people of God and every particular Servant of His to excel all the world besides For Saints and holy persons are excellent persons they are more excellent Psal 16. 3. Prov. 12. 2â— than their neighbour This comely and becoming this excellent dress of holiness makes us like the most holy God Therefore He commands us be ye holy as I am holy and be ye holy for 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. I the Lord your God am holy If we would shew our selves God's Children and call Him Father let us be followers Eph. 5. 1. of God as dear children endeavouring to come near His nature by Holiness and Sanctimony of life Yea God is Holiness it self in the abstract Once have I Psal 89. 35. sworn by My holiness c. that is by my Self who am holiness it self Holiness applyed unto God is that Holiness of God what it is Divine uncreated essence which being it self most holy and undesiled loveth every thing which is so and loatheth and hateth every thing which is not so The men of Bethshemesh after they had so pryed into the Ark experimentally said Who can stand before this holy Lord 1 Sam. 6. 20. God Holiness applyed unto men signifies Holiness of men what it is that created quality of pureness wherein the Saints resemble God being pure severed in part from the mixture of sin as God is holy and pure Here we are unperfectly pure and clean and unpolluted separate from sin and corruption but such we shall be most perfectly in heaven So the nearer that any come to God in holiness the more they are like unto God best liked and beloved of Him Therefore this should breed in our hearts a love of holiness and a hatred of whatsoever is contrary unto it it should kill in us all evil thoughts and opinions of God that may rise in our hearts seeing in Him who is holiness it self there can be no iniquity No evil shall dwell with Him He hateth all Psal 5. 5. those that are workers of iniquity He cannot endure to behold iniquity in the sons of men but with indignation He Habb 1. 13. is of purer eyes to behold evil Holiness is a real change of a man Definition of Holiness from the filthiness of sin into the purity of the image of God To put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the Ephes 4. 22 23 24. deceitful lusts and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Christ is the sum of the whole Scriptures therefore necessarily He who is the new man must be the rule of holiness Holiness is a conformity unto Christ if we consider the nature of it when we are reindued with that image of God after which we were at first created We were predestinated to be conformed Rom. 8. 29. to the image of His Son that is to be conformed to Christ in His nature which is Holiness in His end which is blessedness and in the way thereunto which is by sufferings So our holiness must bear a proportion to Christ's holiness for conformity cannot be without proportion 1. Our holiness must have the same principle and seed with Christ's holiness namely His Spirit 2. It must be conformable to Christ's holiness in the ends of it as the glory of God and the good of the Church Rom. 11. 36. 3. Our holiness must be proportionable to Christ's holiness in regard of the parts of it it must be universal to have respect to all Gods Commandments and that with the whole man both Soul and Body So the Apostle prays for the Psal 119. 8. 1 Thess 5. 23. Thessalonians And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 4. In the manner of working and there 1. It must be done with self-denyal So said our Saviour If any Mat. 16. 24. man will follow Me let him deny himself c. 2. It must be done in obedience to God so Christ said In the volume Heb. 10. 5. of thy book it is written of Me to do Thy will O God Lo I come to do thy 7. 9. will O God 3. It must have growth and proficiency with it therefore we are bid to grow in Grace and in the 2 Pet. 3. 18. knowledge of our Lord Jesus A plant while it hath life in it will grow so a Child c. Even so we while we have the life of true Grace in us will strive to grow and make proficiency in the ways of holiness Sanctification is a real change both of our quality and dispositions Of Lyons Isai 11. 6. we become Lambs though we were fierce cruel hard-hearted c. formerly Sanctification makes us gentle meek easie to be intreated peaceable â—am 3. 17. full of mercy and good fruits c. Briefly it is a change of the whole man and
are imitable by us and which we ought to follow so our Sanctification consists in a conformity to the ways of Christ's ordinary obedience So we read that Christ went about doing good No guile Acts 10. 38. 1 Pet. 2. 22. Joh. 4. 34. was found in His mouth He made it His meat and drink to do his Fathers will when he was reviled he reviled 1 Pet. 2. 23. not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed his cause to him that judgeth righteously He learned obedience by the things which He suffered Heb. 5. 8. Luk. 22. 42. Joh. 13. 14. Joh. 2. 14 17. He resigned His will to God's will He shewed us an excellent pattern of humility in washing His Disciples feet shewed admirable zeal for the glory of God and when He was thereunto called meekly resigned His Soul Luk. 23. 4â— into the hands of God And so the whole life of Christ was an exemplary precept unto men and we ought not to follow men any farther than they 1 Cor. 11. 1. Rev. 14. 4. follow Christ Let us follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth Now if Christ be a rule and pattern of holiness unto us then let us take heed that we be not a rule to our selves Every thing that Moses did about the material Tabernacle was to be done according to the pattern which he had seen in the Heb. 8. 5. Mount And every thing which we do in these spiritual Tabernacles we are to do it after the pattern of Him who is set before us looking unto Jesus the Heb. 12. 2. Author and finisher of our faith So let us be regular in all our speeches and actions doing all according to rule walking exactly and accurately as the Apostle bids us so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Eph. 5. 15. in the Original signifies Not as fools but as wise though the wise fools of the world may think us too precise therein And let us enquire out of the Scriptures whether Christ would have done this or that or no at least whether He allow it or no. And as many as Gal. 6. 16. walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God And thus while we follow Christ we are out of all danger whoso thus Prov. 1. 33. hearken to Him shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil being sure to be upheld and kept by Him in His way The more we follow Christ the nearer still we come unto Him Let us deny our selves our natural self and our sinful self and Christ will be all in all unto us He will guide us comfort counsel 2 Thess 2. 17. settle strengthen stablish us in every good word and work in this our Pilgrimage in the life of Grace here and Psal 73. 24. at length in His own good time bring us safely to the life of glory hereafter Thus we see what a comely and becoming thing holiness is what holiness is and the parts of it and how to attain it Holiness is a becoming thing As Moses when he had long conversed Exod. 34. 29. with God his face did shine So the Saints whose fellowship truly is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ do shine as lights in the 1 Joh. 1. 3. â—hil 2. 15. world Holiness makes us comely as in the sight of God so also in the sight of men So the promise is In that day that is Isai 4. â— in the times of the Gospel the Branch that is Christ shall be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely that is the Spouse and people of Christ who are chosen out of the world and who live upon the earth they shall be excellent and comely So the Saints are comely through Christ's comeliness which He hath put upon them Oh how great is his goodness Ezek. 16. 14. Zech. 9. 17. Psal 149. 4. and how great is his beauty he will beautifie the meek with Salvation The Sanctification of the Elect and chosen of God it is to be taught by the Holy Spirit through the Ministry of the word in the Gospel of the good-will of God towards them to be regenerated and through faith to be made the temples of God and members of Christ that they may mortifie the deeds of the flesh and walk in newness of life going on in that way apprehending comfort â—nd joy in God and so are kept to life everlasting God's sanctifying of us and our sanctifying of God do differ for we sanctifie God by believing by attributing to God His holiness that is all His holy attributes which He claims to Himself in His Word by acknowledging and confessing them and by our holy obedience Sanctifying of God contains the whole worship of God God sanctifieth us by making us inviolable safe and secure against Sin Hell the World Death Devil Enemies and all Evils God sanctifieth us in teaching us by His holy Spirit through the Ministry of the Gospel of His good-will towards us by regenerating us and by faith making us the temples of God and members of Christ to mortifie the flesh and to walk before God in newness of life and so are kept to life eternal Thus far of holiness and the word becometh Now of the next words Thine house O Lord for ever The house of God in Scripture hath several acceptations it signifies and it is taken sometimes for 1. Heaven which is God's upper house His house of Glory of which Joh. 14. 2. Christ said In My Fathers house are many mansions And St. Paul calls it a building 2 Cor. 5. 1. not made with hands eternal in the heavens Here even the poorest Saint who hath not an house to put his head in upon earth hath yet an house in Heaven into which no unholy thing shall enter 2. It is taken for the Church and people of God whether 1. Distributively every pious person is God's house Whose house Heb. 3. 6. are we 2. Collectively and then it is taken sometimes for a particular assembly So St. Paul said to Timothy that thou mayst 1 Tim. 3. 15. know how to behave thy self in the house of God which is the Church of the living God c. And sometimes it is taken for the Catholick Church and this Heb. 3. 2 5. is here meant whether the whole Church of God or every individual person holiness becometh them and is required of them 3. By the house of God in Scripture sometime is meant the true Religion taught and professed within the Church of God The zeal of Thine house hath Psal 69. 9 eaten me up 4. The temple at Jerusalem whereof it is spoken My house shall be called the Luk. 19. 46 house of Prayer The temple of God is holy whose temple 1 Cor. 3. 17. we are Every thing about the material temple and in it was holy
be raised up again which have been dead from the beginning of the world and they that remain alive shall suddenly be changed and so all shall be set before the Tribunal Sâ—at of Christ who shall pass Sentence upon All adjudging the Devils and all the wicked to everlasting punishments but shall receive the godly unto Himself that together with Him and the blessed Angels they may enjoy everlasting glory and happiness in Heaven Or more briefly thus It shall be a manifestation of all hearts and a laying open of all things which men have done and a separating of the wicked from the godly passing Sentence upon All and Execution of that Sentence according to the Doctrine of the Law and Gospel Which will be a perfect deliverance and perpetual blessedness to the Godly and a casting of the Wicked and Devils into everlasting Punishment We will prove the several parts hereof out of the Scripture 1. It shall be a laying open of all things For the Books shall be opened that the secrets of all hearts may be made manifest As Rev. 20. 12. Dan. 7. 10. 2. There shall be a separation of the just from the unjust as a Shepherd separateth Mat. 25. 32 33. the Sheep from the Goats setting the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left 3. This separation shall be by Christ the Judge For the Father hath committed Joh. 5. 22. all Judgment to the Son And Acts 17. 31. God hath appointed a day wherein He will judg the world by Christ 4. There shall be a passing of Sentence For Christ shall say to those on His right hand Come ye blessed c. and to those on His left hand Go ye cursed c. 5. There shall be an eternal Execution of this Sentence for the wicked shall go away into everlasting fire but Mat. 25. 46. the just into life eternal 6. Both the godly and the wicked shall be judged according to the Law and Gospel that is they shall be declared just or unjust before the Tribunal of Christ For the absolution of the just shall principally be according to the Gospel and shall be confirm'd by the Law The damnation of the unjust shall be principally by the Law and shall be confirm'd by the Gospel The Sentence on the wicked shall be taken from their merits The Sentence on the godly shall be taken from Christ's merits apply'd to them by Faith the testimony of whose Faith shall be their works Q. When shall this Judgment be A. We know not the time So â—aith our Saviour That day knoweth no man Mark 13. 32. no not the Angels which are in heaven nor the Son that is as man but the Father only Good conceals this day 1. That He may exercise our faith hope and patience that believing in God we may persevere in expectation of the promises and of the glorious deliverance of the Sons of God 2. That our curiosity may be restrain'd 3. That we may be continued in His fear in godliness and careful performance of our duty that we be not secure but always prepar'd because we are uncertain when â—â—â— Lord will come 4. That the wicked may not desser their repentance because they know not the day lest the day take them at Mark 13. 35 36 37. unawares and unprepared Therefore we are bid to watch and to employ our Talents well until Christ Luk. 19. 13. come Let the Saints rejoyce in God for Christ will come who will be a favourable Judg unto us for He is our Brother our Redeemer our merciful High-Priest He will come in Majesty and great Glory He is able to save to Heb. 7. 27 the utmost all that come to God by Him c. And He comes as to reward Vengance to His enemies so to bring us Joh. 17. 24. 12. 26. unto Himself that where He is who is our glorious Head and Husband there we His servants may also be c. Wherefore seeing we look for such things be we diligent that we may be found of Him in peace without spot 1 Pet. 3. 14. and blameless Then shall we have cause to lift up our heads and rejoyce Luk. 21. 28. for our everlasting redemption draweth nigh So we see by Judgment here is meant the pronouncing and executing of that irrevocable Sentence either of absolution or condemnation Judgment is Two fold 1st Particular 2dly General 1. Particular on every man and woman 1 Particular Judgment Heb. 9. 27. at the hour of death As it is appointed unto all men once to dye and after death comes judgment After Hâ—â—l 12. 7. death the body returns to the earth from whence it was and the spirit to God that gave it there immediately to receive its Sentence 2. General Judgment of which we 2. General Judgment Acts 17. 31. here speak upon all men at the Second coming of Christ As the death of every one severally goeth before their Particular Judgment So the General Resurrection of all goeth before their Final Judgment which shall be at the last Day wheâ— all men both dead and living shall be summoned by the Voice of Christ and Ministry of His Angels and by the Shout and Trumpet of the Arch-Angel Whereto the Lord joyning His Divine Power shall in a moment both Raise the dead with their own bodies and every part thereof though never so dispersed and change the living so that it shall be with them as if they had been a long time dead and were now raised to life again I say both the Elect and Reprobate shall rise by the same mighty Voice and Power â—â— Christ in the same bodies whereiâ— they formerly lived but so altered â—â— quality as then they shall be able to abide for ever in that estate whereto they shall be adjudged But there shall be a difference between the Resurrection of the Elect and Reprobate for the dead in Christ shall 1 Thes 4. 16 rise first and also the difference shall be 1. The Elect shall be raised as members of the body of Christ by vertue derived from His Resurrection The Reprobate as Malefactours shall bâ— brought forth out of the Prison of the grave by vertue of the Judiciary Power of Christ and of the curse of the Law 2. The Elect shall come forth to everlasting life which is called the Resurrection of life The Reprobate to shame and perpetual contempt which â—s called the Resurrection of condemnation 3. The bodies of the Elect shall be spiritual that is glorious powerful â—ctive or nimble impassible never â—apable to suffer more fashioned like 1 Cor. 15. 42 43 44 Phil. 3. 21. â—nto Christ's glorious body But the â—odies of the Reprobates shall be full of â—ncomeliness gastliness and horror agreeable to the guiltiness and terror of their consciences and liable to extremest torments 4. The Elect shall with great joy be Luke 21. 28. 1 Thes 4 17. caught up into the
that hideous cry Art thou come to torment us before the time This terrible fire these hideous torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels all wicked Mat. 25. 41. men must enter into and remain in and and that for ever Oh that dreadful word Eternity never never to have end The damned might think themselves some ways mitigated to endure these horrible pains and extremest horrors more millions of years than there be sands on the Sea-shore or stars in the firmament c. they would still comfort themselves with thinking that their misery will once have an end But alas this amazing word Never will rend their heart in pieces with much rage and hideous roaring and give still new-life to those insufferable pains and sorrows which infinitely exceed all expression or imagination There are in Hell both Corporal and Spiritual plagues and torments The punishment of loss and the punishment of sense 1. The pain of loss the privation of Gods glorious presence and eternal separation from those everlasting joys happiness and blessedness in Heaven which is a most unutterable and inexpressible torment 2. The pain of sense the extremity exquisiteness and perpetuity thereof no tongue can possibly express or heart of man conceive It doth not only exceed with an incomparable disproportion all possibility of patience and resistance but also even ability to bear it And yet notwithstanding it must of necessity be born so long as God is God They shall weep to see how that weeping it self can nothing prevail yea in weeping they shall weep more tears than there is water in the Sea for the water of the Sea is finite but the weeping of the reprobates shall be infinite Their Consciences shall ever sting them like an Adder when they think how God used all means for their Salvation how Christ wooed them by His Ministers to be reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5. 20. offering them freely remission of sins and the Kingdom of Heaven if they would but believe and repent and how easily they might have obtained mercy in those dayes and yet they suffered the Devil and the World and their unruly lusts to lull them asleep and keep them still in impenitency and unbelief and how the day of mercy and grace is now past and will never dawn again Oh that men and women would timely and seriously think hereupon that they may never come into this place of torment to lye as it were in fire and brimstone kept in the highest flame by the unquenchable wrath of God and that for ever Where they shall have nothing about them but darkness and horror wailing and wringing of hands desparate yellings and gnashing of teeth Their old companions in sin and vanity cursing them with much rage and bitterness wicked Devils insulting over them with Hellish cruelty and scorn the never-dying worm of conscience feeding upon their Soul and flesh for ever and ever the smoak of their Rev. 14. 11. torments ascending also to all eternity This is the estate of the reprobates in Hell this is the second death the general perfect fulness of all cursedness and misery 4. Come we to the last head mentioned 4 Heaven Heaven When Christ by His Almighty power and Ministry of His Angels hath cast the Devils and all the reprobates into hell the righteous Psal 58. 10. shall rejoyce to see the vengeance and glorifie God in the confusion of His enemies and have cause then to say Verily there is a reward for the righteous verse 11. verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth Then the elect shall be by Christ carried up into Heaven and put in possession of His glorious Kingdom where they shall be unspeakably and everlastingly blessed and glorious in 1 Cor. 13. 10 12. Body and Soul Being freed from all imperfections and infirmities yea from such graces as imply imperfection as Faith Hope Repentance c. and endued with perfect Wisdom and Holiness possessed with all those rivers of pleasures Psal 16. 11. Rev. 3. 21. 2 Tim. 4. 8. 2 Pet. 3. 13. Psal 17. 16. 1 Thess 4. 17. Heb. 12. 22. which are at Gods right hand seated as Princes in thrones of Majesty Crowned with crowns of glory possessing the new-heaven and new-earth wherein dwelleth righteousness beholding and being filled with the fruition and enjoyment of the glorious presence of God and of the Lamb Jesus Christ in the company of innumerable Angels and holy Saints c. The efficient cause of this eternal blessed life generally is the whole Trinity But especially the Lord Jesus Christ who by His merits hath obtained it for us and by His effectual Power gives it unto us Hence He is called the eternal Father or rather the Father Isa 9. 6. of Eternity And the Lord our righteousness Jer. 23. 6. And He also calls Himself metonimically I am the life John 14. 6. This eternal happiness shall be clearly seen by our freedom from all evil both of sin and suffering and by the variety greatness and eternity of all joys and happiness God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes and there shall be Rev. 21. 4. no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away The variety of those Heavenly joys may farther appear and be seen in these following particulars 1. In the glorification of the whole man both Body and Soul 2. In the pleasantness and sweetness of those Heavenly mansions 3. In the blessed Society of the Angels and Saints 4. But above all in our communion with God To insist briefly upon these The variety of Heavenly joys appear 1. In the glorification of our whole man 1. Our bodies shall be endued with impassibility that is never capable to suffer more with nimbleness and agility with subtility and clearness shining as the light and as the Dan. 12. 3. brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever and fashioned like to Christs glorious body 2. Our Phil. 3. 21. Souls shall be far more perfect then shall we have understanding without error light without darkness wisdom without ignorance reason without obscurity memory without forgetfulness c. 2. The pleasantness and sweetness of these Heavenly mansions was shadowed by the temple of Solomon and the New-Jerusalem Glorious things are spoken Revel 20. 10 to 27. Psal 87. 3. of thee O thou city of God 3. The blessed Society of Saints and Angels we shall not only have a communion Mat 22. 30. Luk. 28. 36. with them but we shall be as Angels 4. The communion we shall have with God shall be such as we shall see Him without end love Him for ever and praise Him without weariness In Psal 16. 11. whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right-hand are pleasures for evermore God so of His gracious good will distributeth glory that none shall have cause of