tongue as the disease within is discovered by the Tongue The Apostle Jude v. 15. speaks of one end of Christs coming viz. to execute Judgement on men for all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners were guilty of David speaks of wicked mens tongues that they were like Rasors and sharp Swords men that breathe Hell Fire every time they speak This is a fruit of their hatred And Lastly It breaketh out into actions as that which consummateth all their wickednesse It was hatred killed all the holy Prophets crucified Christ and put to death so many Millions of Martyrs Before this hatred no good man no holy man could stand Obj. But you may ask How can a man hate a good man whom he knoweth to be good seeing it is ordinarily said No man can will evil because it is evil And to hate a good man because he is good implieth That the will can refuse and detest its proper Object The Answer is We are said to hate godly men as wicked men are said to hate God Now God as he is good and full of all lovelinesse so cannot be hated but as he hath that which a wicked man looks upon as evil to himself so he hateth him Thus as God is a holy God one that will not acquit a sinner that will render to every man according to his works So the wicked hate God In like manner the wicked man hateth a godly man because his Godlinesse is that which is contrary to him an evil to him It discovers thy naughtinesse It reproveth and rebuketh thy Impiety and upon this reason he hateth him yet the wicked man doth not only hate a Godly man but all things that belong to him and every thing a godly man loveth he hateth Godly Ordinances the means of Grace and all because a Godly man loveth them All Praying and preaching he hateth All godly Order and Government in the Church of God he hateth because these things are loved by a Godly man As love loveth not only the person but all things that belong to him so doth hatred the contrary In the next place Consider the Properties of this hatred 1. It is a Causelesse One There is no just and true ground of such bitternesse Hence our Saviour Joh. 15.20 21. applieth that of David to all the godly They have hated me without a cause Indeed if you doe regard the contrariety of wicked men to what is holy this is a necessary cause but it 's not a just cause for this indeed deserveth the clean contrary Had the Pharisees a Cause to crucifie Christ Had the Galatians a Cause to become Enemies to Paul Oh no Those thou hatest should be accounted of as Jewels by thee Those thou revilest and reproachest the delight of thy soul should be to them It is a causless hatred 2 It is an universal hatred For seeing he hateth a Godly man for his Godlinesse then he must needs hate it wheresoever he seeth it Indeed some Godly men either through the power and place they have or for other Reasons are not so subject to the effects of wicked mens hatred but the heart is full of poison and venome against the one as the other for he cannot be a good man whom wicked men do not hate one way or other Wo be to you when all men speak well of you This hating of Godlinesse is called hating of the Light Joh. 3.19 Now all Light is offensive to soar eyes Thus the Godly man liveth but he must have his portion Be afraid if wicked men love thee as seeing nothing of God in thee they think thee like one of themselves if I did my duty I should be more opposed 3. It is an implacable irreconcilable Hatred Gen. 3. There was at first an Enmity put between the devil and his Seed and the Woman and her Seed Though wicked men may sometimes flatter and applaud yet the sting is still in the heart Safety and opportunity would quickly make them vent their poison You see though Saul sometimes melted to David saying O my Son David thou art more Righteous then I I have sinned yet for all this David would nor tempt him nor go home with him The Sheep may not think the Wolf ever mindes good to her Therefore our Saviours advice is good but very strange Beware of men Mat. 10.17 He saith not Beware of Lions and Bears or Serpents but of men as if these were worse then all 4. It 's a cruell hatred who is able to reckon up the several kindes of torments that wicked men have invented to excruciate the godly with No death for Christ would satisfie the Jews but what was most ignominious and painful Heb. 11. Some were sawn asunder This was like that Command of Nero Ita feri ut se mori sentiat It 's known to all that reade Ecclesiasticall History what exquisite torments have been invented that the Martyrs might not simply die but die as many Deaths as they have parts of body Obj. But you will ask Whether every godly man is thus hated Though some may be yet are all Ans It 's the inward disposition of all wicked men to hate those that are godly but then the effects of it may be restrained sometimes for fear because those that are godly may be advanced to places of honour and power Though even then all wicked men have not been able to refrain David complaineth that Drunkards made Songs of him and when he was in his afflicted condition with what scorn and contempt did Shemei revile him So that if we respect the habitual inclination of the heart no godly man can be loved by a wicked man though there may be an outward restraint Again sometimes God may so work the hearts of wicked men that for some time and in some exigences they may love the godly and refresh them It 's Gods promise that when our waies please God even our enemies shall be friends with us Prov. 16.7 What a strange thing was that that when the Israelite was so transcendently hated by the Egyptian yet God should give them such favour that the Egyptians should lend them their Gold and their Jewels yea while all that multitude went away not so much as a dog to bark at them so that though the ordinary Rule be for the Godly man to be hated yet God may at some time preserve some Godly men from the strife of tongues he can change Esaus bloudy heart to melt towards Jacob and he can command Laban to speak kindely to him thus he promised Israel they should finde mercy in the eyes of them who led them captive 2. Though the world may hate godly men yet it 's not necessary that every godly man should be hated by every wicked man Those Godly men are most subject to hatred who by their Office and Calling set themselves most against vice Therefore godly Magistrates and godly Ministers are more exposed to hatred then private Christians for they are not
kinde of perfection to do so Mat. 5. ult Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect He cals this patience and forgiving disposition a perfection If then they rail do thou bless if they curse do thou pray this is to pour living coals upon their head as Rom. 12.10 which some understand in a good sense it will melt the man as Saul was under Davids kindness and as you see fire will at last melt iron though never so tough or others in an ill sense as if when thou hast done thy duty God will severely punish them This is the way to bring fire about their ears Take heed therefore of private revengefull thoughts these are unbeseeming a Christian God makes this his Property Vengeance is mine Deut. 32.2 Although the Heathen could say Revenge was sweeter then honey and so it is to a natural man but it 's farre sweeter then honey to a gracious heart to be able to conquer his revengefull disposition private revenge is unlawfull yet a seeking to the Magistrate for to punish offenders or to obtain right is a duty onely take heed of revengefull thoughts in the pursuing of it Fourthly Doth the world hate thee for Christs sake Then rejoyce and be exceeding glad Mat. 5 12. And that for several Reasons 1. As it followeth in that Text Great is your reward in Heaven The more vilified and debased here the more glorified and honoured in Heaven So that wicked men while they think to do thee a mischief they are instrumentall to thy great glory They make thee more happy and more glorious It 's as if a man should be angry with another and in stead of stones he throw precious pearls and diamonds at him which the man takes up and enriches himself with or as if a man threw bread at a dog in stead of being hurt by it he is glad of it and takes it up and eats it Thus it is with wicked men their reproaches their slanders and oppositions make thee more refined and blessed all these will be like so many crowns of glory set upon thy head As the waters did not drown the Ark but lifted it up nearer to Heaven 2. Rejoyce because hereby God honours and puts a glory upon thee that thou shouldst be one who shalt be reproached and vilified for him Admire the goodnesse of God herein and say with David I will be more vile still Thus the Apostles went away rejoycing they were accounted worthy to suffer for Christs Name Act. 5.41 Phil. 1.29 It 's said to be Gods gift to suffer for him To you it is given It 's a priviledge and an honour to lose any thing for Christs sake as Nazianzen said He was glad he had something to loose for Christs sake And so zealous were the primitive Christians of the glory of Martyrdom that many were so dejected because God called them not to it that they needed consolatory letters to satisfie them Though the world look upon them as disgraced and miserable yet God honours thee and this thou art to judge of as the greatest mercy and dignity that ever befell thee 3. Rejoyce because God and Christ will hereby be indeared unto thee and give thee larger supplies and provisions of comfort Nihil crus sentit in ligno quando animus est in Coelo I will be with thee in the fire and water saith God Was not Peter singing of Psalms in the prison Oh then know this is the time of Gods peculiar love of his more mercifull approaches to thee thy winter will be thy summer thy outward troubles will be accompanied with the most inward joyes This is Gods way when the world most slanders and accuseth to give the believer strongest evidences of his Justification within The godly were most enlarged in soul when they were shut into straightest prison and they had most of a bright glorious Heaven when they were plunged into a dark dungeon thy incomes will be rich when thy expences shall be great the more men frown the more will God smile on thee 4. Rejoyce because hereby is a conformity to Christ and to all the holy men that have gone before thee So in Mat. 5.12 Rejoyce because so persecuted they thâ— Prophets of old and Rom. 8. it 's made the effect of our Predestination to bâ— conformable unto Christ in these afflictions they are an effect of Predestination These troubles and reproaches God from all eternity appointed thee unto as by which he would glorifie thee They came from that spring of the great love of God which he had toward thee before thou hadst any being so that hereby thou art made like to Christ a glorious Disciple doth not beseem a crucified Saviour neither rich and adorned members become an head crowned with thorns How many have gloried in being like some great and famous men in the world How much rather is this an honour to be reproached as Christ was to be slandered as Christ was the Disciple must not expect to be above his Master 5. Rejoyce as having an opportunity of the exercise and increase of grace The horse neigheth at the battel and war-like sounds as being glad of the occasion A valiant man delights in the occasions of his activity The Pilot sheweth his skill in times of danger and tempests Know therefore that when the world hateth thee God then cals thee out to a spiritual combate thou art then become a spectacle to God he beholds what excellent graces thou wilt shew forth what faith what patience what fortitude what heavenly-mindednesse Now if ever there is a time to shew thy spiritual might and courage yea here is not only an occasion to put forth thy graces but an opportunity to discover thy unfeigned love to God and Christ to own Christ when all the people would make him a King is no trial but to stand to him when they cried away with him Crucifie him this is a good evidence God will then say Now I know thou lovest me when these many waters the world throweth on are not able to quench it though father hate though friends hate though all hate yet this doth not discourage thee in thy love of God What a comfortable evidence is this of thy true grace Nay in some sense thou dost exceed the Angels in doing Gods will for though they be zealous and active in obedience to God yet they meet not with oppositions in their service They are not subject unto the reproaches and contempts of wicked men of the world and therefore in this thou art more then an Angel Lastly Rejoyce because God might have left thee to be such a malicious enemy to godliness as thou seest they are Every time thou hearest what slanders what malicious words the wicked of the world vent against thee O bless God and say I might have been left to such a spirit I was such a devil my self once I opened my mouth against such as fear God as well as he Oh blessed be
Such a man this world adoreth But if a man be never so wise so excellent yet if powerfully godly will not conform to the evil waies of the world this marreth all This makes him envied and hated Who art thou then that hast some desires to walk in the way to heaven but the opposition the hatred and violence that is used against that way makes thee draw back Oh foolish and deluded wretch was it not thus with Christ with his Apostles Were they not told they should be hated of all men for his Names sake There cannot be a more comfortable sign of thy grace then to have all the wicked men where thou livest either thy hypocritical Friends or thy open enemies Jerome thanked God that he was worthy to be such an one whom the world would hate The Serpents Seed cannot love the Womans Ismaell will persecute Isaac glory therefore and boast in this if the malicious wicked man hath his mouth alwaies open against thee If he be alwaies censuring and backbiting For if thou wouldest be prophane dissolute if thou wouldst be a Minister to prostitute the Ordinances of God to every prophane man thou wouldst be as good as any in the world but now it 's not for thy infirmities but thy graces they malice thee Sixthly They are not of this world because they are members of Christ and incorporated into him Now Christ himself was not of this world nor was his Kingdom of this world Joh. 18.36 he came not with any earthly worldly advantages Now the godly they are to be wholly conformed unto Christ As Christ was so are they They bear the Image of the heavenly so that what life what actions were by Christ the same they are exercised in so that if we would follow the example of Christ make him our patern as our Christianity obligeth us then should we overcome the world not only in the persecuting part of it but the inticing part of it The heart that is united to Christ findes more excellency and sweetnesse in him then in all the pleasures of the world as we see by Paul Lastly They are discovered not to be of the world because their life is a life of faith The Just shall live by Faith Rom. 1.17 We walk by faith and not by sence 2 Cor. 5.7 Now a worldly life is only by sence and carnal reason It moveth only upon sensible grounds coming as far short of faith as a beast doth of reason but the godly man he looketh into the Word of God he seeth the promises and embraceth them This life of faith is a mystery it is a Riddle yea it 's a madnesse to the world To part with all present advantages upon faith for eternal that are to come this is to them extreme folly and truly herein a godly man is discovered exceedingly Doth he not live by his sensible props but by the Promises Doth he overlook all creatures and fix his heart upon God this is more then the world doth If you ask the grounds why the people of God are out of the world though in it There are three pregnant Reasons in one verse Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world Observe first it 's an evil wicked world The whole world lieth in wickednesse saith John 1 Joh. 5.19 There is nothing but the works of sin and the devil in it therefore the devil is called the Prince of this world Joh. 16.11 because he reigneth in every mans heart Now how can those whose natures are made holy who will and love what God wils and loveth come to agree with sin how can they who are sanctified by the Spirit of God be where the devil ruleth 2. It 's the present world It 's but for the present the profits are present profits the pleasures are present pleasures whereas the godly man looketh to Eternity Dâ—mas cleaveth to the present world 2 Tim. 4.10 but Paul to the eternal world the world to come 2. Christ died that we might be delivered from it This is a pregnant reason one main reason of the death of Christ was that thou shouldst not be as the world is if the shortnesse and vanity of these things and their fading nature do not move thee let the bloud and death of Christ prevail with thee He was crucified that thou shouldst be crucified to the world he died that thou shouldst be dead to the world Vse of Exhortation To come out of the world in respect of your affections and conversations you cannot abide there no more then Lot in Sodom and be saved yet are not the greatest part of men of the Church thus of the world Oh how unworthy is this that whereas thy Christianity thy Religion engageth thee not to be of the world thy conversation proveth thou art Well as thou art of this world so shalt thou perish with the judgements of the world That lieth in darknesse and will be cast in utter darknesse this will be thy Portion and know thou must go out of the place of the world though thou wilt not out of the wickednesse of the world the world cannot will not hold thee alwaies SERMON XXXII Of the peculiar Propriety Gods People have in him and he in them JOH 17.6 Thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy Word THE former part of this Verse related Christs care and work to his Disciple This latter part giveth a description of them and all particulars therein are very argumentative to prevail that God should hear praier for them Now here is a threefold description of them wherein indeed is laid down divinely the Cause of mans Salvation with the effects flowing from it The two Causes are these 1. The Eternal Election and absolute purpose of God to save such Thine they were 2. The meritorious cause in and by which all the mercies they are elected to are obtained and that is Christ Thou hast given them me viz. as a Mediatour 3. The blessed effects of these causes that are hidden or at least every one may pretend to them but this is a discovering sign that excludeth many They have kept thy Word At this time I shall treat only of the first cause which indeed may be called causa causae the cause of all causes of our Salvation and that is Gods Election or gracious purpose to take some out of mankinde and to make them his in a peculiar manner For a people may be said to be Gods divers waies 1. By right of Creation and dominion which he hath thereby and so all things are his Psa 69.11 Both the reprobate and the godly are his in this sence it 's impossible but that every creature should be his because he cannot alienate his dominion and property 2. A people may be said to be his by an outward dispensation of the Covenant of grace Thus the people of the Jews are all of them called his people
thou wantest Oh that the Spirit of God would convince such of their danger their poverty and nakednesse though they think they want nothing I tell thee this good Samaritan as well as the Priest will passe by thee Christ as well as the Law speaks no comfort to thee yea the bloud of Christ speaks more terrible things then the bloud of Abel Thy condemnation will be the greater because Christ came 〈◊〉 the world because he was crucified All thy other sins have not that aggravation as thy rejecting of grace of how much sorer punishment saith the Apostle shall such an one be thought worthy Vse 2. of direction to the people of God if thou fittest mourning like Rachel and refusest to be comforted blame thy own self It 's thy ignorance and folly thy unbelief and doubts cause all this What could God have done more What could Christ have done more then they have done yet thou takest no comfort hereby Oh that thou shouldst onely aggravate thy sinne and thy unworthinesse and not be as diligent to study and finde out all the fulnesse in Christ Christ as a Mediatour ordained by God should be the Book thou art to reade alwaies not a Page not a word but thou shouldst be acquainted with it Oh bewail thy self and say how many comforts how many priviledges have I bereaved my self of I have kept my self in the dark yea in the Whales belly and thought of nothing but sin and hell and damation Oh what little cause I had to wrong my self and Christ so much Oh think Christ bids thee as the Prophet did that Woman bring as many cruses as thou canst I have Oyle enough to fill all and thou art so froward thou wilt not Oh think Christ saith to thee Was it not enough that I lived for thee I died for thee but thou wilt as much as lieth in thee make me do all this in vain Thou sittest complaining and bewailing and Christ he complains of thee Learn then at last that heavenly prudence and Evangelicall skill to make use of whole Christ and all of Christ for thy spiritual good SERMON XXXVI Of Obedience to all the Commandements of God Shewing That that only is truely Obedience And the Property of a Godly man JOH 17.8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me And they have received them c. OUR Saviour in this Verse doth more largely amplifie that to which he had in the 7th Verse spoken more briefly so that he doth still continue in narrating and commending the Disciples Obedience and Faith which are the Jachin and the Boaz the two Pillars of practicall Christianity Their obedience is commended in the former part 1. By their readinesse and willingnesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have received as willingly as men do food or gold and silver They put forth their hands to take it with all delight I mean the hands of their soul viz. their affections which are both the feet and the hands of the soul 2. There is the Object Thy words Where 1. We see That is only true and proper obedience which Gods Word requireth Though we be never so diligent and industrious yet if the Word of God commands not such things it 's no obedience 2. The Universality Thy words that is collectively and universally They had an equal respect to all 3. These words are described by the Original of them The words thou gavest me So that Christ though head of the Church yet did not deliver any thing to be beleeved or obeyed but what he had received of the Father an excellent President for all the Ministers of the Gospel We see then every crum in this bread of life is nourishing and we will not lose any 1. Whereas we see that Obedience doth alwaies relate to some Word of God and that we may not of our own heads choose to do what we please in matters of Religion We observe That that only is proper and acceptable Obedience which hath the Word of God requiring it We are apt to make Religion and godlinesse that which our own humours fancie yea and sometimes our lusts do suggest Hence every one is apt to judge of another as religious and godly not by the rule of the Word but by such principles as he hath taken up for himself Thus in Popery he is judged a very pious and obedient man who is most industriously diligent in all that invented worship the Church of Rome abounded with Though there be not one iâ—â—a or tittle for it in Gods Word but as the Word of God is the rule of faith so is it of obedience Faith and the Word must accompany one another and so must obedience and the word commanding Therefore Christ tels the Pharisees their devotion it was a vain devotion because Who hath required this at your hands Mat. 18.9 See a notable expression Isa 66.3 They have chosen their own waies I also will choose their delusions You see Let a man have never such godly intentions never such pious purposes yet if he choose a way of his own in faith and obedience God is greatly displeased and therefore howsoever heresie or an heretick which is as much as a chooser of his own way be by Scripture and Ecclesiastical Writers limited to a way of faith yet the Word may be extended to any practical obedience We may say Superstition is heresie We may say drunkennesse whoredome are heresie because they are waies chosen of men to walk in contrary to Gods Word so he who would have comfort in his obedience must look to Gods command The grounds of this are First From the Supremacy and Soveraignty of God who alone is to prescribe to man his duty He is our great Lord and Master so that as it would be very absurd in a Servant to do that work which he thinketh fit and not what his Master enjoyneth no lesse is it for men to think that God will accept them in such and such waies when yet they cannot bring his Superscription and authority stampâ— upon it Hence it is that the Prophets do so often use this expression Thus saith the Lord It 's not their counsell or their commands but Gods Oh then examine thy actions thy waies thou puttest much confidence in them Thou hast much comfort from them but are they svch as God hath required Did not our Saviour at one word throw to the ground all that glistering golden Piety of the Pharisees There is no command for it This is the foundation you must lay else your building though never so glorious will have a terrible fall Secondly Obedience must have Gods command else it cannot enjoy Gods promise and blessing Whatsoever God commands he hath annexed a gracious promise thereto for our encouragement and reward Therefore it 's said In vain do they worship me There is no promise of Gospel-priviledges or salvation to such actions Now how sad a thing is it when the same
indeared both to Father and Son and also the frequent Iteration of this might produce the more faith and confidence in the Disciples 3. This is amplified by the manner or instrumental cause how they are to be kept Through thy own Name 4. The End or Consequent of all this That they may be one as Thou and I are one Of the Mercy praied for Keep and the Subject Those thou hast given me in the first place I shall not enlarge any thing more upon this Description Neither is there any difficulty in the words only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred by some serva and they take it properly for those were said to be servari who were taken in warre and so the Conquerour had full power over them to put them to death but of his clemency he saved them and thereupon were called servi but the Greek word hath no such allusion Only there is a twofold keeping external and temporal from the violence and rage of wicked men in respect of their bodies and lives because the world hates them And 2. Spiriutal and internal in grace and holinesse and this he doth principally pray for as appeareth by the matter instanced in Keep them in their outward condition that they be not destroid keep them in their spiritual condition that they lose not their faith or other graces Keep them in bono that they be not undone deficiendo Keep them a malo that it hurt them not Inficiendo If they do sinne keep them reficiendo by repairing and raising them up again If then the Disciples though thus wonderfully given by the Father to Christ do need a daily keeping lest they be undone every way then it holds true also of all beleevers Obs That even all the People of God were they not kept by Gods grace and power they would every moment be undone both in Soul and body It is not our grace our Prayer our Watchfulnesse keeps us but it is the power of God his right arm supports us We may see David praying to God that he would keep him in both these respects from temporal dangers Psa 17.8 9. Keep me as the Apple of thy Eye from the wicked that oppose me Where he doth not only pray to be kept but he doth insinuate how carefully God keeps his people and in what precious account their safety is even as the apple of the Eye and for spiritual preservation he often begs it Psa 19.13 Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous sinnes Though David be Gods Servant yet he will like a wilde Horse run violently and that into presumptuous sinnes if God keep him not back yea he prayeth that God would keep the particular parts of his body that they sinne not Psa 141.3 Keep the door of my Lips he entreateth God to keep his Lips and to set a watch about his mouth as if he were not able to set guard sure enough Thus much more are we to pray that God would keep our hearts our mindes our wils our affections for they are more masterfull Let us briefly consider the first God keepeth us from temporal dangers and that upon these grounds 1. Man hath by sinne forfeited all his temporall mercies there is nothing due to him no health no wealth not the least comfort but every man here upon the earth might be like Dives in hell begging for a drop of water and not able to attain it Gal. 3. Cursed is he that keepeth not the Law and Gen. 3. upon sinne death in all the concomitants of it came into the world so that if all these curses of the Law be not every moment inflicted upon us it 's because God keepeth us He beareth off the blows that Justice and the Law would lay upon us So that it's Gods goodnesse that keepeth thee alive that keeps thee on this side hell that keeps thee from that proper doom which belongs to thee The Sentence of death is passed upon all long agoe onely the execution of it is put off till God pleaseth Who art thou then that repinest and art troubled under such a losse such an affliction how many thousands more are there that God keeps thee from None is so miserable but he may see others more miserable then himself It is the Lord that keeps all these curses from thee and thee from them 2. The godly man would be undone if God did not keep him from his own imbecility and infirmity He hath no power to preserve himself from misery Hence man is called Enoch and in the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that he doth not only deserve all misery but he is prone of himself to fall into it did not God keep him Job 14.1 and Job 5.1 Man that is born of a woman is full of trouble even as the Sparks fly upwards So that as the Spark if not stopt doth of it self ascend upward Thus man of himself though there were no outward cause to drive him yet would stumble and fall into all desolation Therefore the great troubles men lye under are self-created they come by our indiscretion blindenesse or some sinful way or other Therefore Solomon observeth that a mans misery is great on the Earth because he hath not judgement to discern the times and seasons of things Eccl. 8.6 If therefore God did not keep the Godly man no Childe would sooner fall or run into the fire then he would into mischief You may reade of that good King Josiah for whom the Kingdom made such Lamentation how foolishly he ran upon his own Death 2 Chro. 33.22 3. Did not God keep us the devils rage and enmity is such that he would not onely destroy the Soul but the body You see his malice when he had liberty to possesse the bodies of many how miserably he tormented them and when God gave him leave to afflict Job in his Estate and body he did it to the utmost There wanted no evil while he could do it Now there is no reason why the Devil should not do thee the same mischief continually but onely God bindes up this roaring Lyon The Devil is said to be a Murderer from the beginning and that for the body as well as the Soul he tempted Cain to murther Abel he tempted Judas to betray Christ Oh then wonder that God keeps thee when there are such Legions of Devils crafty and potent enough to procure thy destruction 4. Did not God keep the godly he would be undone temporally because of the hatred and malice wicked men bear to every godly man Therefore Christ said they were as Sheep among Wolves Can they hope for mercy from a Wolf David complained that his Soul was among Lions and Ezechiel complained he dwelt among Scorpions Now then seeing the world is so full of malice and the number of wicked men is like the Sand upon the Sea-shoar to them They are as the Israelites Army seemed to the great power that came against them like a Flock of
on them he addeth a Caution Let none of you suffer as a Murderer as an evil doer as a busie body in other mens matters but as a Christian that is Let him look that he do not for any wickednesse of his justly procure civil punishments but only let him keep to his Christian profession and if that be all his fault then let him not be ashamed Therefore he addeth Let such an one commit himself to God as to a faithful Creator Why Creator But because God looketh upon such Sufferers as his Creatures it 's because of my Image shining in them I cannot be a faithfull Creator and not take care of them saith God To this purpose our Saviour often because it 's not the meer sufferings but the cause and motive that is all in all If ye be persecuted for my Names sake and for Righteousnosse sake This must be the ground else we cannot pleade the promise of assistance 2. As it 's possible for a Christian to suffer for his own iniquities so nothing is more ordinary in the world though a man do suffer meerly for Christs sake yet to charge other crimes upon him and to pretend other grounds of their malice against such then meer Christianity This is good to be observed for if the Persecutors say true there was never any holy man or faithful Servant of God suffered but they made the condemnation just and thought at least some of them that they did God good service as our Saviour Joh. 16.2 Were not the Prophets of old whose bloud was shed by Jerusalem traduced as busie-bodies as Troublers of Israel as publike enemies and in Christs time Though the Sun was not more free from spots then he from sinne or any miscarriage in his Ministry yet what accusations did they frame against him and Joh. 8. It was not for the good works they said they stoned him but for his blasphemies So Joh. 18. If this man were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him to thee The Martyrs also when so many thousand of them died willingly for Christ yet by their Enemies they were represented as the vilest of men So that as they did with their bodies put them in Beasts skins that so Lyons might devour them more greedily Thus they defamed them and laid heavy crimes to their charge that so they might have the more just ground to condemn them So that when a Christian suffers as a Christian and when as a busie-body must not be determined by their Enemies nor by the greater part of the world but by Gods Word for they think all zeal against sinne rashnesse and madnesse and all reproofs of wickednesse a busie-medling more then needs Gods Word therefore must be the Star to direct in this Thirdly It must be also granted That a man suffering for those things which are against Christ which are palpably contrary to his Doctrine yet may be so farre seduced as to think he suffers for Christ This is ordinary with all heretikes who have judged themselves Martyrs and made all their sufferings to be for God when yet they blaspheme God Doth not the Papist put his sufferings upon Christs score Doth not every Heretique entitle God to his Cause Do not the Socinians who yet with their whole might oppose the Deity of Christ prerend great obedience so and adoration of him as a constituted God We grant then that men may be horribly deluded in their sufferings They may give their bodies to be burnt and not have true and sound Faith They may be acted by an heretical spirit and yet endure great miseries as the Circumcelliones out of a mad contempt of Death would make men kill them But these also have not Christs promises belonging to them unlesse it be Gods Word indeed and truly so for which the world hateth them they are not within the Ark It 's true Even such who suffer in such deluded waies may have great comfort may finde much consolation within but it 's the devil that transformeth himself into an Angel of Light It 's such comfort as mad men have that laugh and are pleased in the midst of their misery for God will never give comfort but to his own Truths The Spirit of God is not a Comforter but where it first leadeth into the Truth Indeed the confidence and comforts many have died with in their errours have been a stumbling-block but this is to be ignorant of Satans devices and the potent operations of strong delusions upon mens souls It cannot be denied but that even the best Christians who are hated and do suffer in the world have yet many imperfections cleaving to them and do discover many infirmities of the flesh so that as none can be perfect in love of God or in any other grace so neither in enduring the hatred of the world oh how hard is that Rule of our Saviours Mat. 5. when men revile to be patient when men curse to blesse and to render all good for all evil These things do so transcend humane power that many miscarriages several indiscretions and many carnal fears are apt to interweave themselves Now when the matter or cause of our sufferings in Christs and for his Name and if the heart be mainly set for God and his honour though subject to weaknesses such may pleade Christs assistance for all that neither may they fear Christ will disown them because of such adhering infirmities Do we not see the Scripture commending some as eminent when yet at that very time there was some imperfection Abrahams Faith so highly commended Rom. 4. yet had some diffidence mixed with it Jobs Patience so greatly exalted yet had some impatience breaking out God then takes not notice of thy weaknesse but of thy Grace and the godly sufferer may comfort himself that though he hath imperfections yet it is not for them the world hateth him As Bradshaw that holy Martyr said Though he was a sinner and had many Infirmities yet his Enemies did not put him to death for them but for the quarrel of Christ which he had espoused and the Truths of Christ which he preferred above his own life The Grounds of Gods endearment to protect such as are hated for his Name sake are 1. Gods propriety and interest in such It 's not their lives or Liberties are aimed at so much as his Name his Glory his Truth Now God cannot but love what is his own and that infinitely Therefore it hath alwaies been the Custome of Gods people in their Praiers to make their trouble to be in reference to him What wilt thou do for thy great Name said Joshua c. 7.9 And David It 's time to work for men have made void thy Law So it 's thy Temple thy Altars they have polluted and hence God accounts all the malice and madnesse of men discovered against his people as done to him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. 9 4. Could they do that to God which
be with the Lord and to be with him for ever comprehends so much that the heart can never suck out all the honey of it But let us not with Moses stand afar off and behold the glory and sweetness of this Land but let us enter into it and these things are considerable First That we deny not but the happinesse of Heaven may be amplified from severall other particulars besides our presence with Christ such as the enjoying of Angels and Saints for a state of happinesse is the aggregation of all good thing desirable but yet that which is the Sun among the Stars That which is the principall and great happinesse is that we shall then more perfectly know and enjoy God and Christ It 's true indeed most Divines do yield that we shall there know our godly Friends and shall greatly rejoyce in their salvation and happinesse yet so that all these lines will meet in God as the center that all these streams will be emptied into the Ocean so that though Heaven hath unspeakable priviledges and every thing therein is glorious yet that which is the Heaven of this heaven the glory of this glory is the enjoyment of Christ himself It 's Gods presence that makes heaven to be heaven Secondly We are to know that the Schoolmen whom Divines follow speak of a twofold happinesse beatitudo objectiva and formalis an objective happiness and this is acknowledged to be only God himself There is no other object that can make the soul happy but God only As the stars cannot dispell darknesse and make light but the Sun only The other is called beatitudo formalis or subjectiva and that is the internal perfecting of all the faculties of the soul with such perfect grace that they are able to carry us to God in a most perfect manner and the glorifying of the body with all those admirable qualities that the Scripture speaks of so that when we say Christ in heaven is our happinesse we speak of the objective happinesse not the formall That object in the enjoyment whereof the glorified Saint is made eternally happy is Christ only Thirdly Consider that even in this life we are with Christ and Christ is with us Though as you heard to be with Christ is most commonly the expression of glory yet it may sometimes denote our gracious presence here for thus though Christ be in Heaven yet he is said to dwell in our hearts by Faith Eph. 3. Therefore we must needs in this life be with him now this is the beginning of that glory we shall have hereafter He that beleeveth hath Eternal life Joh. 3. not only de jure but doth actually possesse some beginnings of it The Transfiguration Peter was in and the extasie Paul speaks of were forerunners of Heaven and although the godly may not have such an extaticall ravishing sence of it yet the Lord doth many times bestow on his people a taste of this joy whereby they rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory whereby they are above the world and can despise all earthly comforts comparatively Austin and Bernard do sometimes speak their experience of this upon their souls and no doubt but the Martyrs who were to suffer so bitterly for Christ were had up into the Mount of Transfiguration before they were carried to Mount Calvary Crus nihil sentit in ligno quando animus est in coelo In the next place let us Consider the Grounds why Christ or Gods presence in heaven is that which makes the happinesse of a glorified beleever And 1. Because in Christ or God there is all fulnesse to make us happy he is objectively all what the soul can desire If Christ be represented in this life all to the Church when yet we have but the glimpses of him how much more in Heaven when we shall have the full enjoyment of him Therefore wonder not if having of God there be our happinesse for he is the universal good he is that bonum in quo omnia bona as Paul said having a Revelation from God this was enough and that those who were pillars could not adde unto him so much more may it be said in this case having full possession of the Lord Christ himself no comfort or content any other way can adde one cubite to that stature of happinesse 2. Christ is not only objectively full of that which may make happy but he is also efficiently communicative of it For suppose God be a Fountain sufficient and inexhausted yet as long as it is a Fountain sealed up as long as there is a stone upon the mouth of it that cannot be rolled away so long we are not able to come at any refreshment God is alwaies able to make us happy to the utmost he might vouchsafe us an heaven in this world but he is a free Agent and communicateth himself as he pleaseth Now it hath pleased him while we are in this life to communicate himself by degrees This Fountain is dispensed by drops but in Heaven there will God communicate himself as far as the creature is able to receive him Then this Sun will not be under any Cloud then there will not be any complaints why the Lord doth hide his face or withdraw himself 3 Heavens happinesse lieth in Christ because then the soul is made a prepared and sutable subject for him All pleasure and delight ariseth from the conveniency of the object with the faculty for if there be contrariety or dissonancy then instead of happiness there is nothing but misery Now in Heaven the the whole soul will be so perfected with Grace that it cannot delight in any thing but such an holy God What is the reason that in this life a wicked man hateth God and refuseth his will and law but because of his contrariety to him and on the other side a godly man though he have but imperfect and inchoate grace yet he preferreth Christ and loveth him before Father and Mother and every thing that is dear all this ariseth because there is some similitude between God and him he is born of God and partakes of the divine Nature and so by this means delighteth and rejoyceth in God but if the green Tree be thus ready to burn in love with God what shall the dry Tree do 4. Christ is the chiefest happinesse in Heaven because he being chiefly beloved there is obtained the nearest Union with him It 's not the place of Heaven but the person in Heaven that a Christians love is fixed upon Hence some some have not been afraid to say That Christ with a godly man though in hell yet would make hell no hell for when the soul cometh to enjoy that which is most beloved then all further desires and distractions must cease then the stone is come to its center Then the fire of love hath ascended as high as it can go then it saith Sufficit I have enough Now all the while the Church is
and defend the truth to confute and put all errours and heresies to silence Therefore it 's a qualification required in the Minister That he be able to convince gain-sayers Tit. 1.9 You see the Apostle in some of his Epistles is not only practical but didactical and therein confuting those errours that molested the truth even in her Infancy for this end they are called Guides and Salt yea they are Shepherds to keep off the wolves that would subtilly devour the sheep We are to watch against prophaneness and also against errours The Apostle useth that phrase of a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump both in matter of corrupt manners as also corrupt Doctrine Gal. 1. and therefore would have the Churches of God purged from both Lastly The Ministry is appointed for spiritual Government in the Church to admonish those that are disorderly to cast out prophane and obstinate sinners For this end they have the spiritual Keyes of the kingdom of Heaven vouchsafed to them and in the due administration thereof God hath promised his gracious confirmation Hence it is that they are called Governours Rulers Pastours all which demonstrate that a Ministry is not only in doctrinal publication of the word of God but in a spiritual governing and ordering of people to supernatural ends Indeed the Apostle saith This power is given us for edification not destruction 1 Cor. 10.8 all is for spiritual ends It 's to save the souls of those that are under us This though accounted austere yet is profitable and necessary even as Government in the Commonwealth Thus you see the ends of a Ministry Therefore fourthly when we say God hath appointed a Ministry thus for spiritual ends this implyeth God will blesse and go along with it unlesse mens sins do hinder it We may not think God hath appointed these things in vain or for a meer form Doth not the Apostle say That if the Gospel be not the word of life it is to them that perish 2 Cor. 2. who performed the Office of a Gospel Minister more faithfully then Christ himself And who might expect greater successe in his Ministry then he Yet we hear him complaining Who hath believed our report Oh then let that people that Congregation tremble which hath long enjoyed the Ministry yet as ignorant and prophane as ever Oh consider with thy self and say O Lord thy arm is not shortned thou art as able to break and humble the hearts of sinners as ever therefore some heavy spiritual judgement is upon me I may fear I am like that cursed fig-tree upon which Christ said Never fruit grow more Now that this Ministry is to be to the end of the world while God hath a Church here appeareth by these Arguments 1. The ends of the Office are perpetual therefore the office it self is perpetual The end is to convert to build up to preserve from errours to admonish and rebuke Will there not be this work to be done alwayes Heaven is like Paradise that needed no rain there were waters from within refreshed it but the Church while militant is like the ground that needeth the former and later rain 2. It appeareth by Gods promise to them Mat. ult I will be with you to the end of the world and here all that shall believe at any time are said to believe by their word he is said to hold the seven stars in his hand Rev. 3.1 3. The duties that are injoyned people respectively to them are perpetual as to hear them highly to esteem of them for their works sake to submit themselves unto them These are duties required of a Church as long as it is a Church therefore it 's implyed they must have such teachers and officers 4. The similitude that the Scripture useth about them and the Church inforceth their perpetuity They are light the world will alwayes need the Sun and Stars They are the salt of the earth every Sacrifice must have that The Church is a Garden these are said to water it They are sheep and such must have a shepherd They are the house of God then there must be stewards to dispense the things of life 5. God threatens it as the sorest of judgements to remove their Pastors and Teachers into corners To remove the Candlestick away Rev. 2.5 6. There are directions for the qualifications of such who are to be ordained Ministers given by Paul to Timothy and Titus which are to be kept unblameably till the coming of Christ Vse of Exhortation Is the Ministry thus appointed perpetually for spiritual ends then look again and again whether it hath been so to you or no Hath it been light to remove thy blindness Hath it been salt to take away thy corruption If our Congregations are still so many Golgothaes when the word of life hath been so often preached to it What can you expect that God will make them Aceldamaes What hath hindred the Ministry from its proper efficacy upon thee but thy wilfull rebellion and wickednesse It is to work faith and thou art atheistical it 's to convert thee from thy lusts and thou art a beast still Hear ô heavens and hearken ô earth dreadfull is that sin and judgment which is upon thee Vse 2. Of Instruction Why the devil and his instruments would overthrow Christs Ministry Is it not because those onely hinder him from his quiet possession SERMON CXII Of Vnity among Gods People The Nature of it JOH 17.21 That they all may be one as thou Father art in me c. IN this Verse is laid down the matter of Christs Petition what it is that he praieth for in the behalf of those who shall believe in him and that is unity and concord amongst themselves so that as before for the Apostles he praied that they might be one as Apostles in the work of the Ministry so here he praieth for all believers so great a matter is it to have all the Godly at Union amongst themselves Now although this Union comprehend in it grace begun here and glory consummated hereafter yet it 's again and again to be considered that these glorious priviledges should be comprehended in theâ—r Union as if that being preserved all was preserved and without that there could not be any godliness here or blessedness hereafter We have then the unity and agreement of all believers made the principal part of Christs Petition for them and in that take notice 1. Of the benefit it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may be one he doth not say that they may love and agree with one another but be one as if the Church should be but one person and as the Apostle argueth None ever hated his own flesh Eph. 5.29 So there should be no divisions envyings and differences amongst the godly because they are one spirit as it were They should no more hate one another then a man doth himself 2. Here is the universal extent of this unity That they all Though there be great
variety and difference in gifts in graces in offices in outward conditionr yet they must all be one 3. You have the patern of this unity As thou Father in me and I in thee 4. The nature and quality of this unity That they may be one in us 5. The benefit and fruit of this union That the world may believe thuu hast sent me I shall first consider the benefit praied for That they may be one and observe That union rmongst the godly is of so great necessity and consequence that Christ doth in their behalf principally and chiefly pray for this Though in this Unity be included grace and sanctification yet that which is expresly mentioned is their agreement I have handled this Union as it related to Officers in the Church from v. 11. I shall pursue from this Text union amongst believers themselves and because our Saviour doth enlarge himself about it I shall also insist upon it To Open this Truth Consider 1. That the is a two-fold unity or union among the gtdly Invisible and Visible Invisible Unity is that whereby they being united to Christ their head by the Spirit on Gods part and faith on our part do receive spiritual life and encrease in which some Beleevers are compared to the several members of the body and Christ to the head because of that spiritual life and motion they receive from him This is the foundation of our visible union and without this though we may be outwardly of the Church yet we do indeed receive no saving advantage by Christ Of this union the Text speaks not because it 's such an Union that the world seeing it may thereby be induced to believe Therefore 2. there is a visible Vnion whereby Believers do outwardly and visibly expresse their compacted nearnesse to one another and so those particular Churches of Corinth and Ephesus are called Christs body in respect of their external union as well as internal for not only by faith but also by the Ordinances we have fellowship with Christ and with one another Of this visible Unity the Text speaks and this is made a special means to bring the world to believe Whereas on the contrary differences of Opinion and sad rents and sects in Religion is the only way to confirm men in their impiety and to think there is no truth and no religion at all In the second place This visible Union doth diffuse it self in many Branches As 1. There is an unity of Faith and profession when they all believe and speak the same thing This must be laid as the foundation of unity for unity in errour and idolatry or false waies is not peace but a faction or Conspiracy This unity of faith is reckoned among the many unities the Apostle mentioneth Eph. 4.5 Phil. 2.2 They are exhorted to be of one minde and the Apostle notably presseth this 1 Cor. 1.10 that they speak the same thing being perfectly joyned together in the same minde and the same judgement What a sad breach then hath the devil made upon Gods people when there are so few of the same minde and do judge the same things but as you heard it must be a samenesse and unity in the true Faith for the Jews they are one amongst themselves the Mahumetans are one the Papists are so one that they boast of it and make it a note of the true Church Now though this should be granted though they have a thousand divisions amongst themselves yet unless it be unity in the faith unity in the sound doctrine it is nothing at all 2. There is an unity of affection and love in the heart and outwardly one to another Love is called the affection of union and makes a man to be the object he loveth as much as his own and we see the praier of Christ abundantly fulfilled in this respect concerning the Primitive Christians for Act. 4 32. it 's said they were of one heart and of one soul Those thousands of believers were as if they had but one heart and soul among them and thus in Tertullians time the heathens did admire at the love Christians had to one another our Saviour makes it a surer sign of discipleship then if they wrought miracles Joh. 3.35 3. This union is seen in the publike worship and Ordinances which God hath appointed as God said of man at first it was not good he should be alone So it 's true of every believer he is not to serve God alone to think that a private Religion is enough Therefore you have the examples of the primitive Christians Act. 2.1 Act. 5.12 how they met with one accord in one place and that to have the enjoyment of publike Ordinances they praied together the Word was preached to them they received the Sacraments together and the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.16 17. sheweth how the Sacrament of the Lords Supper did declare their union and communion one with another Hence Heb. 10.25 The Apostle reproveth those whose manner it was not to assemble themselves together This vâ—sible union of believers in Church-Ordinances is their highest beauty and their chiefest advantage Hence David professeth his ravishment herein How beautiful are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts and Psa 110. it 's called the beauties of Holinesse and Hag. 2. this temple is said to be more glorious then ever the former was and that because of Christs presence therein preaching and reforming all abuses and corruptions When the Ark was taken Phinehas his daughter cried The glory is departed from Israel Hence the Ordinances even in this life are called the Kingdom of heaven because of Gods glorious presence therein David when banished Psa 63.2 longed to see the glory of God as he had seen it in the Sanctuary And then it s our greatest profit and advantage for Gods presence is promised to these So that the Christian Ordinances are the life of the Church There is a larger dispensation of Gods gifts and graces here then otherwise 4. This unity is seen in that publike order and government which Christ hath appointed in his Church as God hath appointed some to be Shepherds and to govern so others to hear and obey he hath commanded admonition and in some cases sharp reproof and where obstinacy is to cast out Now it 's very hard to have unity in this respect for as 1 Cor 14. it appeareth private Christians do difficultly keep within their sphere every member would be an eye as the Apostle there chargeth so it 's hard to meet with an obedient ear though to a wise and godly reproof It 's therefore a blessed thing as to have unity of faith so also of order That is to see every member of the Church with its relation in an harmonious way as it 's in the body though they be heterogeneal parts yet they all harmoniously consociate in their operations This unity of order is like the nerves and ligaments to this spiritual society 5. This