Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A45685
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A funeral sermon on Mordecai Abbott Esq. preach'd at Lorimers Hall, April the 7th, 1700 / by Thomas Harrison.
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Harrison, Thomas, fl. 1700.
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1700
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Wing H910; ESTC R40131
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13,432
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55
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for it I conceive the latter word faithful may be explicative of the former Epithet good the Goodness and Excellency of a Servant chiefly consisting in his Fidelity to his Master The things wherein he had been faithful are call'd few in comparison of what should be intrusted with him and bestow'd upon him The most that we receive from Christ at present is very little compared with what we shall receive from him hereafter There is a vast disproportion between what we have in hand and what we have in hope I may say of the Enjoyments as the Apostle doth of the Sufferings of the present time that they are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be reveal'd in us Rom. 8.18 God will deal more bountifully with his own Children when they come to Heaven than he ever doth while they remain upon Earth 2. The Happiness to which he adjudges him I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. We must not be solicitous to accommodate every word in a Parable to that spiritual Truth that is taught us by it I will not determine whether these words I will make thee Ruler over many things do purely serve for the setting off the Parabolical Narration or are to be taken in a spiritual sense According to the former Notion they are expressive of a kind Master's treatment of a faithful Servant having experienc'd his Fidelity in smaller matters he entrusts him with greater and advances him to a higher Station According to the latter Notion they are expressive of that great Felicity which Christ will confer upon his faithful Servants in another World This is further held forth in the following words Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord whereby is certainly intended the Glory and Blessedness of the Heavenly State This is exprest by Joy because the fruition of it will produce a triumphant and unspeakable Joy in those that enter into it Thus Psal 16.11 In thy Presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right-hand are Pleasures for evermore 'T is call'd the Joy of his Lord and that probably on a double account 1. Because in the Vision and Enjoyment of Christ the greatest part of their Felicity will consist Tho there be many Jewels in that never fading Crown of Glory which shall be set upon the Heads of Believers in another World this is the brightest and most sparkling When our Lord prays for the final Happiness of his People he thus expresses himself Father I will that they be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me Joh. 17.24 The Apostle therefore desir'd to depart that he might be with Christ Phil. 1.23 2. Because his Glory in Heaven is the Exemplar and Pattern of that which his People shall enjoy They shall enter into that Joy which he as their Forerunner is already enter'd into Not that they shall possess the same Glory in all respects that Christ hath for his personal Glory as the Son of God and as Mediator are incommunicable but they shall partake of his Glory according to their Capacity We are told that they shall reign with him 2 Tim. 2.12 and that when he shall appear they shall be like him 1 Joh. 3.2 Their Souls shall be perfectly conform'd to his human Soul in Purity and Felicity and their Bodies shall be fashion'd into the likeness of his glorious Body An entering into this Joy may denote the plenitude and abundance of it Here Joy enters into us but hereafter we shall enter into Joy we shall be swallow'd up in a fathomless Ocean of pure and unallay'd Pleasures I proceed 4thly To consider the Time when this Speech was deliver'd If we look back into the 19th Verse we shall find it was when the Lord came to reckon with his Servants Hereby our Lord's second Coming in visible Glory to judg both Quick and Dead is evidently intended Of this we have a particular account in the latter part of the Chapter The Heavens must contain our ascended Lord till the times of the restitution of all things and then he shall descend from thence in the Glory of his Father with all his holy Angels to convene the whole Race of Adam before his Judgment-seat to call them to an account for the Deeds done in the Body and to pass a definitive Sentence upon them according to their Works 'T is true there is a particular Judgment which immediately follows after Death When the Soul is separated from the Body it appears before the Bar of the supreme Judg to give an account of its Stewardship and then receives an irreversible Sentence of Condemnation or Absolution But I conceive our Lord chiefly respects the General Judgment when the Trial will be public the Sentence pronounc'd with the most awful Solemnity and the Happiness or Misery of every Man compleated Having gone thro the words by way of Explication I might raise several Observations from them But that I may comply with my time I shall only speak to this Proposition Doct. That they who are faithful Servants of Christ in this Life shall be possest of a very joyful and happy State in the next In prosecuting this Point I shall I. Describe the faithful Servants of Christ II. Give an account of that joyful and happy State of which they shall be hereafter possest III. Show the certain Connexion between serving Christ faithfully in this Life and the Possession of that blissful State in the next IV. Make some Application I. I am to describe the faithful Servants of Christ who they are that shall be own'd as such by the Supreme Lord when he comes to Judgment They may be described 1. From their State 2. From their Actions The former is necessarily presuppos'd to their serving Christ with Faithfulness and Acceptance The Service which they do for Christ consists in the latter 1. Their State may be describ'd â—n two Particulars 1. They are justified by the Righteousness of Christ 'T is impossible that any good Fruit should be brought forth by a Person till he be ingrafted into Christ as is plainly taught us by our Lord himself Joh. 15.4 5. Now being found in Christ and â—aving on his Righteousness are conjoin'd because they are inseparable Phil. 3.9 They who are mystically one with Christ must â—eeds be interested in his Mediatory Righteousness and so perfectly justified in the sight of God Tho according to the Tenor of the Covenant of Works the Servant was to be first accepted and then the Person on that account yet according to the Tenor of the Covenant of Grace the Person must be first accepted and then the Service Nothing short of an Investiture with Christ's perfect Righteousness can render our Persons acceptable to the most High and till they become so our most splendid Services will be abominable in his sight 2. They are renew'd and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ Every acceptable Service flows from a
A Funeral Sermon ON MORDECAI ABBOTT Esq Preach'd at Lorimers Hall April the 7th 1700. By THOMAS HARRISON Psal 89.48 What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death Shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave Mat. 24.46 Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing LONDON Printed for D. Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-bar and A. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil 1700. ERRATA PAge 7. line antepenult put the Comma after little P. 15. l. ult for Servant read Service P. 18. l. ult r. they may both themselve acknowledg P. 19. l. 2. for but r. and. To the Sorrowful Widow of Mordecai Abbott Esq MADAM THO I readily comply'd with Your desire in preaching the following Sermon I could not without some reluctancy consent to the printing of it But my great Obligations both to Your deceas'd Husband and Your self gave Your Request the force of a Command I rather chose to have my Prudence censur'd than my Gratitude I am sensible that I studied it under a great disadvantage both by reason of my bodily Indisposition and those necessary Affairs that lay upon my hands which made me the more unwilling to publish it But if God who is a Soveraign Agent shall be pleas'd to make it useful to any that read it I shall find no reason to repent its being brought upon the public Stage I hope Madam when you seriously consider how sutable those VVords wâ—â—ch I preach'd upon are to the Character of your departed Relative it may be a means to support You under that severe Stroke which separated Him from You. He was a good and a faithful Servant and I question not but he is now enter'd into the Joy of his Lord. His Conversation upon Earth gives You solid ground to hope that he is advanc'd to Heaven where he is possest of a compleat Felicity And that sweet Savour he has left behind him perfumes his Family now his Body is cloth'd with Corruption 'T is an honour to You that You had such a Husband to Your Children that they had such a Father That the Lord would supply this Loss by the more eminent Vouchsafement of his Gracious Presence to You that he would adopt Your Fatherless Children into his own Family that the choicest of his Blessings may constantly descend upon You and Yours is the unfeigned desire of Madam Your humble Servant THO. HARRISON April 15th 1700. Matth. xxv 21. His Lord said unto him Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. THE great Apostle of our Profession during the publick exercise of his Ministry upon Earth spoke very much in Parables according to the stile and manner of the Jewish Nation Hereby spiritual things were brought down to the Capacities of his Hearers being represented by those earthly ones which were most familiar to their Understandings We have two Parables in this Chapter my Text is a part of the latter which begins with the 14th and ends with the 30th Verse The Scope of this Parable was to perswade Men to diligence in the Service of God and to a faithful improvement of the Benefits which they receive from him In order to the Explication of my Text I shall consider four things 1st The Speaker 2dly The Person spoken to 3dly The Speech it self 4thly The time when it was deliver'd An account of these things will give you further light into the whole Parable 1st The Speaker His Lord. Hereby our Lord intends himself who was ready to travel into a far Country to ascend to the Emperial Heaven which is at a vast local distance from this lowly Earth wherein he then sojourned He hath a double Lordship over all Countries viz. Essential and Primitive as the second Person in the Trinity and Derivative and Dispensatory as Mediator Tho many of the human Race refuse to serve and obey him they are all his rightful Servants and Subjects His Dominion over them is not founded upon their Consent he is nevertheless their Lord tho they will not own him to be so In short they that slight his Authority now will find it exercis'd hereafter in the infliction of a deserved and severe Punishment upon them The unprofitable Servant shall be cast into outer Darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth as you may see in the 30th Verse of this Chapter 2dly The Person spoken to His Lord said unto Him We have an account of the Person in the preceding Verse and that with respect to two things viz. his Receipt and his Improvement 1. His Receipt This Servant had receiv'd five Talents from his Master All the Blessings that the Children of Men enjoy flow from Jesus Christ Temporal good things are dispensed by him as the Governor of the World and spiritual as the Head of the Church His Favours are not communicated to all in an equal measure We read of one Servant that receiv'd but one Talent of another that receiv'd two Talents but this Servant was intrusted with five The supreme Lord makes a considerable difference between one and another by the distribution of his Favours One hath no more than Food and Raiment just enough to supply the Necessities of Nature another abounds in Wealth his Cup is so full that it runs over one lives obscurely and makes no figure in the World another is in an exalted Station one is very weak in his Intellectuals another is furnish'd with a considerable stock of Parts and Learning And surely the Proprietor of Heaven and Earth may dispose of his own as he pleases They that enjoy the least have more than they deserve they that enjoy the most must acknowledg that it is not their Worthiness but the soveraign Goodness of their Lord that hath made them to differ from others 2. His Improvement He gained besides them five Talents more he did not hide his five Talents as his fellow Servant did his one Talent but laid them out and improv'd them He gain'd more by his five Talents than the other Man did by his two his Improvement was proportionable to his Receipt To whomsoever much is given of him shall much he requir'd Luke 12.48 The more God hath done for us and bestow'd upon us the more will he expect from us All that we have receiv'd from him should be laid out in his Service for the advancement of his Honour I proceed 3dly To the Speech it self Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Herein we have his Lord's Commendation of him and the Happiness to which he adjudges him 1. His Lord's Commendation of him Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a few things He approves of his Service and commends him