carefull that they had no sinfull thought they would be patternes of the strangest expressions of conformitie to the rule that can be imagined if it were possible to be granted You may easily be perswaded of this doe you that now which they wish for and wish in vaine make use of the time of grace now there is no comming backe againe afterward Thirdly A third reason is this I shall goe to him As if hee should have have said I have another businesse in hand now the child is dead it is not for me to stand blubbering and spending my time for a dead Child I am going to him The word here is I shall returne to him Returne signifieth to goe backe to a place where one was before So David shall returne to his Child for he was there before there in respect of his body the principles of that is in the earth where the Child is and in heaven in respect of his soule where the Child is The Body returneth to dust whence it was taken and the soule to God that gave it The body is of the dust and returneth to dust the soule commeth from God and returnes to God againe Therefore he saith here I shall returne to him because I came from him When things are reduced to their first principles the body to the earth and the soule to God they are said to returne Yee see the phrase then The point briefly is this That the greatest care of a mans life the greatest businesse he hath to doe on earth is to prepare for death His businesse is not to care for his children that are dead and to spend unprofitable sorrow for them the maine businesse of my life is how I shall make my peace with God and bee fitted for death for I am going thither Wee should observe the death of others to stirre us up to a serious preparation for our owne death the Father should be stirred up by seeing his Child dead before him the elder by seeing the younger die before them we see how death hath shot his arrowes beyond and short and above and below us in those that are elder and younger and richer and poorer all sorts he will strike us at last this thing I say should stirre us up to prepare for our owne dissolution A man would thinke that there were no need of such a thing the very bare sight of Corse or a hearse the bare fight of a dead corpse the bare ringing of a bell or a Funerall Sermon should be warning enough to the living to tell him of death When a man sees a company carrying a dead body to the gaave he should say to himselfe It may bee the feet of these may carrie me next But how commeth it to passe that it is not thus Certainly there is not power in all examples to worke this it is the worke of Gods spirit Though a man observe the death of never so many before him yet this cannot worke in him a serious care to make preparation for his owne death except God adde a further worke to it We may see this in the expression of Moses when so many died in the Wildernesse Lord teach us to number our dayes that wee may apply our hearts to wisedome As if hee should have said Though so many thousands died in the Wildernesse and that by so many severall kinds of death yet we shall never apply our hearts to wisedome by those examples except God teach us that wisdome Therefore we should pray to God to teach us by his Spirit to make use of Examples Men must give account for examples aswell as for rules men must give account for examples of mortalitie as well as for Sermons of mortalitie therefore let the example of others mortality stirre you up to prepare for your owne and that you may doe so be much in calling upon God Lastly Hee shall not returne to mee that is in this sense to converse on earth as he had done before I shall returne to him but hee shall not returne to mee He doth but reitterate and repeat what he had said before in effect This is the thing then that Parents must make account of both for themselves and their children For their children It should make them moderate therefore in their sorrow for them God now hath shewed his purpose and declared his will therefore wee should rest in that will of God This is the thing that David aymed at Gods will was not only to takeaway his child but so to take him away as never to returne to him againe in that manner Now God had declared his will and therefore why should I fast saith he as if he should say I will now rest in the will of God In all the things which we account crosses and losses in children and friends c. The maine businesse of a Christian is not to expresse sorrow but submission and subjection to God to exercise and inure his heart to patience and to rest in Gods good pleasure and will As Eli though he faild in his carriage to his sonnes yet he shewed a dutifull respect to God his heavenly father When Samuel told him the judgement of God that should come upon his house It is the Lord saith he let him doe what seemeth him good in his owne eyes though it were a heavy judgement such as whosoever should heare of it both his eares should tingle yet it is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good As if he should say I have nothing to doe in this businesse but to subject my selfe with patient submission and contentednesse to his will it is the Lord it becommeth not me to contend with him and to reason with God concerning his worke I confesse hee is righteous let him doe what seemeth him good in his owne eyes And so Aaron There was a heavy judgement befallen him his sonnes were consumed with fire yet the text saith Aaron held his peace When God manifested so great wrath to his house in wasting and consuming and burning his sonnes for offering of strange fire yet Aaron held his peace that is he did only mind how to glorifie God by a contented submission to his will So Iob hee heard not only of the losse of his children but that he lost them in such a manner by a violent death by a house falling on their heads yet the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed bee the name of the Lord. Whereas a carnall worldly man would have fallen to strugling and contending and quarrelling against God and so trouble and perplex his owne spirit We doe exceedingly imbitter Gods cup by mingling with it ingredients of our owne passions and so make the affliction more heavy and grievous then God intends it Here is the reason wee possesse not our soules with patience When we are sensible of the losse of friends and children c. let us learne to make it our businesse to thinke I have a
the Holiest and dearest servants of God are exercised with and divers of these doe make them many times mourne exceedingly and to cry one while O wretched man that I am and to groane out another while Woe is mee that I am constrained to live in Mesech and to have my habitation in the tents of Kedar of all these miseries Death is the end to Gods servants And so also it is an entrance into happinesse for albeit their bodyes rot in the Grave and bee laid up in the Earth as in Gods store-house untill the last day yet the soule forthwith even in an instant comes into the presence of the ever-living God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in Heaven the spirits of just men made perfect to Abrahams bosome to bee with Christ quanta haec felicitas What greater happinesse It was much that Moses obtained to see the back-parts of God but how much greater favour is it to see him face to face to have eternall fellowship with God the Father with Christ the Redeemer with the Holy Ghost the sanctifier The knowledge of this benefit of Death makes the face of it comfortable to Gods servants and causes them to strive with their owne naturall weaknesse that so they may even long for their day of dissolution But now against this point divers Objections may be alledged For first the Apostle Paul sayes that Death is the wages of sinne And else-where hee stiles it Christs enemie the last enemie that hee shall subdue is Death How should not death then be rather a day of misery to bee trembled at then a day of happinesse to bee longed for To this I answer that wee are to distinguish touching Death for it must be considered two wayes First as it is in its owne nature Secondly as it is altered by Christ in the first sence it is true that Death is the wages of sinne and the very suburbs and the gates of hell But in the second taking of Death it ceases to be a plague and becomes a blessing inasmuch as it is even a doore opening out of this world into Heaven Now the godly looke not upon Death simply but upon Death whose sting and venome is plucked out by Jesus Christ and so it is exceeding comfortable But then secondly it is objected that wee reade of many that have prayed against death as namely first David Returne O Lord saith he and deliver my soule oh spare mee for thy mercyes sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee Secondly Hezekiah when the message of death was brought to him Thirdly Christ himselfe Father if it bee possible let this cup passe from me To all these I answer first touching Daâ—…d that when he composed that sixt Psalme hee was not only gâ—…vously sicke but also exceedingly tormented in mind for he wrestled and combatted in his conscience with the wrath of God as appeares by the first Verse of that Psalme therefore wee must know that hee prayed not simply against Death but against death at that time in asmuch as the comming of it was accompanied with extraordinary apprehensions of Gods wrath for at another time hee tells us that hee would not feare though hee walked through the valley of the shadow of Death And the like I say touching Hezekiah that his prayer proceeded not from any desperate feare of Death but first that he might doe more service to God in his Kingdome And with such a kind of thought was Saint Pauls desire of dissolution mingled Secondly hee prayed against Death then because he knew that his death then would be a great cause of rejoycing to evill men to whom his reformation in the State was unpleasâ—…ng Thirdly because hee wanted issue God had promised before to David that there should not faile a man of his seed to sit upon the throne of Israel so that his children did take heed 〈◊〉 their wayes Now it was a great discomfort to him to die childlesse for then he and others might have thought that he was but an Hypocrite inasmuch as God had promised issue to all those Kings that feared him and for this cause God heard his prayer and after two yeares gave him a sonne Maâ—…asseh by name And so I say the same touching our Saviour Christ that hee prayed not against Death as it is the separation betwixt Body and Soule as appeares by what the Apostle saith that hee was heard in that hee feared for hee stood in our roome and became a Curse for us it was the Curse of the Law which went with Death and the unspeakable wrath and indignation of God which hee feared and from this according to his prayer he was delivered But thirdly wee see in most good men a feare of Death and a desire of life and I my selfe may some godly man say doe feele my selfe ready to tremble at the meditation thereof and yet I hope I belong unto God I answer that there are two things to bee considered in every Christian Flesh and Spirit Corruption and Grace and the best have many inward perplexities at times and doubtings of Gods favour Now it is a truth which our Saviour delivers that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weake And as in all other good purposes there is a combat betwixt the flesh and the spirit so is there in this betwixt the feare of Death and the desire of Death sometime the one prevailes and sometimes the other but yet alwayes at last the desire of Death doth get the victory Carnall respects doe often prevaile farre with the best care of wife children and the like Thâ—…se are their infirmities but as other infirmities die in them by degrees so these also at last are subdued and the servants of God seeing clearely the happinesse into which their Death in Christ shall enter them doe even sigh desiring to bee clothed upon with their house which is from Heaven Here then is a good Marke by which we may know our selves to be Gods servants viz. by the state of our thoughts and meditations touching Death I will so deliver it as may bee most for the comfort of those that truly feare God I demand therefore of thee Dost thou know that the confident and comfortable expectation of Death is the worke of the Holy Ghost in Gods servants Dost thou desire unfeignedly that the same may bee wrought in thy heart Dost thou labour to know what happinesse comes by Death to those that feare the Lord Dost thou grieve at thine owne weaknesse to whom the thought of Death is sometime troublesome and unsavourie Dost thou pray the Lord so to assure thee of his favour in Christ that death may bee desired before it comes and welcome when it is come Dost thou when thou hearest this speech of Simeon wish that thou wert able to use the like words with the like resolution Surely
Luke 7. and Iairus his Daughter Luke 8. and Lazarus here in this chapter And at his resurrection also hee manifested this his quickning power in that he rose not alone but raised the bodies of many of his Saints with him many of his Saints arose with him and as they rose with Christ their head so also they ascended to glory together with Christ their head and the resurrection of these it was an effect of the resurrection of Christ it was by the power of Christs resurrection Of these we may reade Mat. 27. 52. 53. The graves opened and many bodies of the Saints that slept arose and came out of their graves after his resurrection and went into the holy Citie and appeared to many Thus you have the first conclusion proved that Christ is the Author of the resurrection of the body Now in the next place the second conclusion is this that Christ is the Author and Fountaine of spirituall life also Hee is the Author of the Resurrection of the soule and the resurrection of the soule it is this when the Spirit of grace of which we were all deprived in Adam returnes againe to the soule of a naturall man and so quickens the man that the man begins to rise out of the Grave of sinne and to lead a new life a spirituall life the life of grace this is the resurrection of the soule Now that Christ is the Author of this Resurrection also of this spirituall Resurrection wee may demonstrate this by a multitude of Divine testimonies but wee will single out some few of the chiefe wee need goe no further then this Evangelist which affords plentifull testimonie for the confirmation of this truth As in Ioh. 4. 10. There Christ speaking to the woman of Samaria he said unto her If thou haddest knowne the gift of God and who it is that said unto thee give me drinke thou shouldest have asked of him and hee would have given thee living water Here the Spirit of Christ it is compared to living water by an allusion to the water that continually springeth out of a Fountaine And the Spirit of grace is compared to living water from the effects of it because the Spirit of grace restoreth spirituall life to the soule and then preserveth this life therefore it is living Water and Christ is as the Fountaine of this water that yeeldeth and giveth this living quickning water of the Spirit Againe in Ioh. 5. 21. there Christ chalengeth this power to himselfe As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them so the Sonne quickneth whom hee will As Christ when he was upon the earth hee raised whom he would from the death of the body so now being in heaven hee raiseth whom he will from the death of the soule Yea the voyce of Christ sounding in the ministrie of the Word accompanied with his quickning Spirit is of power and efficacie to raise those that are dead in sinnes as wee may see Ioh. 5. 25. Verily verily I say unto you saith Christ the houre is comming and now is when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God and they that heare it shall live Againe in Ioh. 6. 35. there Christ stileth himselfe the Bread of life and the Living bread Iesus said unto them I am the bread of life and in verse 48. I am the bread of life and againe verse 51. I am the living bread Christ is the living bread the bread of life who as he hath life in himselfe so he communicates spirituall life to all those that feed upon him And here is a broad difference betweene this Bread of life and ordinary bread ordinarie food for though ordinarie food can preserve naturall life where it is yet it cannot restore life where it is not but Christ is such living Bread that he restores life to those that are dead in sinnes and preserves that life that hee hath restored thus hee is the living Bread Againe Ioh. 15. 1. there Christ compares himselfe to a Vine and the faithfull to so many branches I am the true Vine saith Christ and my Father is the husband-man And in verse 5. I am the Vine yee are the branches Now as the branch of the Vine sucks juyce and sappe from the stocke and roote of the vine so all the faithfull receive spirituall juyce and life from Christ their head As Adam hee is a common root of corruption and spirituall death to all that come from him so Christ is a common roote of grace and spirituall life to all those that are his members And in this regard Christ is compared to a head and the faithfull to his members Collos. 1. 18. Christ is the head of his body the Church Christ is the head and the faithfull are his members therefore as in the naturall body the head that is the principium the fountaine of sense and motion it is the head that by certaine nerves and sinewes conveyes sense and motion to all the members of the body so in the mysticall body the Church Christ is the head that conveyes spirituall life and motion to all that are his members to all the faithfull Thus you see the second conclusion explained and proved also that as Christ is the Author of the resurrection of the body so hee is of the resurrection of the soule too it is he that raiseth the soule to spirituall life Now in the third place we are to shew you the reason why this double quickning power is here comprehended under one terme I am the Resurrection Now that this double power of quickening is to be understood here under this one terme wee need not I hope spend time to prove for that Christ speakes here of the spirituall resurrection and the spirituall life this I take to be evident from Christs owne exposition in the words following Hee that beleeveth in mee though hee were dead yet shall hee live Hee that beleeveth in me though he were dead in sinnes and trespasses before yet hee shall live the life of grace therefore I am the Resurrection Againe that the resurrection of the body is not here excluded it may appeare from the scope and intent of these words of Christ for the scope of these words here is to perswade Martha that hee was able of himselfe by his owne power to raise up her dead brother to restore him to life saith hee I am the resurrection I have power to restore spirituall life to the soule that is dead in sinne and this is the greater worke therefore I am able to restore naturall life to the dead body to restore the body that is dead in the Grave to life againe Now the reasons why this double power is here comprehended under one terme I am the Resurrection the chiefe reasons I take to bee these two First this double quickning power is here comprehended under one terme in regard of the Analogie and proportion betweene these two betweene
First by way of comfort Against the feare of Death or against over-much sorrow for those that Death takesaway It is true Death is an Enemie But to whom only to the wicked that are out of Christ to those that have no benefit at all by his Death and Resurrection and ascension When Death commeth and findeth out these they may say as Ahab did to Eliah and more truly a great deale hast thou found me oh mine Enemie It is the worst Enemie they have in the world It is a cruell Sergeant that catcheth them by the throat and arresteth them for a debt that they are never able to pay It dragges them to the Jayle casteth them into the Dungeon to the chaines of Darknesse I have not a word of comfort to say to them They have no more comfort in Death then they have in Hell where though they shall lie in torments and paine they shall not have a drop of water to coole their tongue But to the faithfull in Christ there is comfort upon comfort For though Death be an Enemie yet remember first it is a subdued Enemie Secondly a reconciled Enemie Thirdly and lastly an Enemie that one day shall not be at all It is a subdued Enemie that is one comfort The strength and sting of it is gone When a Bee hath lost his sting and is a Droane it can hurt no more So Death is a Droane to a Christian it hums and buzzeth it doth no hurt it cannot sting the sting is gone Against all those Enemies that I formerly told yee of that are attendants on Death here is comfort First it is true Death commeth with ill Harbingers it bringeth sicknesses and aches and paine but there is comfort against this For when God sendeth paine remember hee promiseth to send patience too that he will put his hand under to helpe His left hand shall bee under us and his right hand over us to catch us hee hath promised comfort upon our sicke beds to make our bed in our sicknesse Wee need not make such an Allegorie as Ambrose doth this sweet flesh of ours the Bed of our soule it is under infirmities and weaknesses God helpeth us he makes our bed hee saith to the sicke of the Palsey Take up thy bed hee turneth our bed in our sicknesse either he sends us health so some expounds it hee turnes the bed of sicknesse into a bed of health or God turneth our bed for us in our sicknesse that is he refresheth us giveth us ease when we lie upon our sicke beds It is a Metaphor borrowed from those that attend sicke persons that helpe to make their Beds easie and soft and turne them that they may lie at ease So God hath promised his children in the painfull time of sicknesse to make their Beds easie and soft to cause them to lie at ease by the Patience that he will give them Secondly it is true Death bringeth dissolution and dissolveth the frame of nature it separateth and divorceth those two loving companions the Soule and the Body But there is comfort in this For though it divorce the Soule and the Body yet it cannot destroy the soule and the body even the body is in the hand of God when it is rotting in the earth as the Soule is translated to heaven Againe though they be separated yet it is but for a time one day they shall meet more joyfull and glorious then ever before and after that they shall never be separated againe Lastly though he separate the soule from the body and the body from the soule yet neither from Christ nor Christ from them Nay it is so farre from separating that it helpeth to unite us to Christ as I said before the dissolution of those shall bee the conjunction with him I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Thirdly it is true the horrour of the Grave attendeth Death and the putrifaction of this flesh of ours that must turne to corruptnesse it makes it terrible and fearfull But there is comfort against this For after that time of putrifaction there shall bee a time of restitution and though the wormes devoure this flesh of ours yet in that very flesh of ours wee shall see God another day These eyes shall see him There is comfort in that that when God shall come to restore us with himselfe what the Grave hath clothed with corruption he will cloath with glory these vile bodies hee will make them like the glorious body of Christ without all corruption Fourthly it is true Death depriveth us of worldly friends of worldly imployments this makes it terrible Yet there is comfort against this Though we be deprived of worldly friends it carries us to heaven to better company to Angels to the spirits of just and perfect men to God the Iudge of all to Iesus the Mediatour of the New Testament Nay besides one day hee will restore againe those very friends of which here we are deprived though wee lose them for a time in heaven wee shall meet againe and there renew a perpetuall league of societie and love So though it deprive us of worldly benefits it cannot of heaven and those are better they are not pleasures of sinne that last for a season but at the right hand of God that endure for ever So though it deprive us of worldly services it carrieth us to heaven to those that are better that are high and proper to the Church triumphant such as befit the Church to sing Hallelujahs and such as are profitable to the Church militant by the memorie of good examples and by the prayers they offer to God not in particular for they know no mans particular wants yet for the generall and common good of all Fifthly and lastly It is true the consideration of sinne and of Judgement and our uncertaine estate after death makes it terrible like the face of an Enemie Yet there is comfort against these For sinne I told you that though there bee a sting in the Serpent yet Christ hath drawne out that sting so that being a Serpent without a sting we may doe as Moses take it in our hand put it into our bosome and it will never doe us hurt to them that die in the Lord Death rather came by sinne then for sinne It is not betweene sinne and damnation but betweene sinne and salvation For judgement It is true Death presenteth judgement but it presenteth it with comfort for the day of Judgement is the day that the godly looke for and long for as the day of redemption not of confusion when they shall receive the sentence by which they shall bee absolved and not condemned For they know when God shall come to be their Judge hee shall come to be their Saviour And so for the uncertaintie of our future estate after death It is true the state of the dead in regard of naturall understanding it may be a thing
Christ shall sit on the Bench as Judge Hee shall then openly come to shew himselfe a just Iudge amongst men as before he came to be judged when he came privately he was judged of them that were unjust It was once a scorne that he the Sonne of man should bee Iudge of the world therefore God will have him come and appeare in that very forme he was scorned in that now they may behold him in his Majestie that before would not take notice of him when hee appeared in humilitie that they who the more contemptuously before esteemed him in his basenesse may now more severely tast of his justice God then is Iudge Not men Not Angels but God himselfe Had men beene our Judges we might not feare the face of men because they are vessels of the same earth as wee tooke out of the same pit hewen out of the same rocke If Angels had beene our Judges wee should not have stood in so much feare because though they be Spirits more glorious then we yet by their owne confession they are our fellow creatures and our fellow servants therefore we after a sort participate with them in some degree of nature But neither men nor Angels shall be Judges then but Almighty God that as much excelleth men and Angels as the heavens doe the earth And looke what is necessarily required to the office of a Iudge it is incomparably found in him To the office of a Iudge there are three properties specially required Knowledge to discerne Power to determine Justice to execute In God these are all of them transcendent and emminent For Knowledge he is the most wise For Power most absolute For Execution most just Knowledge to discerne that is the first He that assumeth the person of a Iudge must needs be one of wisedome and understanding Though he have the Scepter of authority in his hand if hee have not the eye of wisedome in his head if he be not able when men plead their case before him as the two Harlots before Solomon to decide to whom the right of the case belongeth as hee to whom the living child pertained he is as unfit to be a Iudge as an illiterate Ignaroe is to be a Priest The Iudges ignorance is the honest mans overthrow We commonly paint Justice blind not because he should be so that sits in Gods seat of Justice to decide Cases but only in respect of persons Blind Isaac was faine to put forth his hands to feele whether it were Esau or no that came to aske the blessing it is a hard case when Iudges have sore eyes that they cannot discerne the right Case but only by feeling But it shall not be so here God is the Iudge that is of infinite wisedome and understanding that is able to discerne right and wrong Of necessitie it must be so because he is Omniscient hee knoweth all things he hath the true understanding of them it is impossible to deceive him Earthly Iudges they sometime are blinded in the hearing of Cases that are brought before them for what their eyes see not they are not able to discerne there are not glasse windowes into the bosomes and breasts of men by which they are able to come into their hearts all the information they have is from Evidences and Witnesses the hear-sayes and reports of others where if any thing bee concealed or mistold how easily may they miscarry But Gods knowledge is not so unsound or uncertaine because he himselfe is an eare and an eye-witnesse of all things that are he knoweth whatsoever is done he beholdeth not the actions only but the very intentions he is able to judge of the thoughts and intentions of the heart It is but folly to thinke to hide any thing from him heaven is not so high but he can reach it hell is not so deepe but hee can search it the earth is not so wide but hee can span it the night is not so darke but he can see it the chamber the bed the closeâ—… is not so close but hee can pierce it Hee that sitteth upon the circle of the heavens and whose eyes are as flames of fire seeth everything Heb. 4. There is no creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open like an Anatomized body for thence the Metaphor is drawne where the bowels are laid open and every nerve and muscle and ligament every Atome discovered so that we may take a full view of it In a word if it were Davids commendation that he was wise as an Angell of God how wise must God be that infuseth wisdome into the Angels and in whose sight the Angels are foolish That is the first thing requisite in a Iudge he must have knowledge to discerne In the second place Hee must have power to execute hee must have authoritie to command and not be as an Image set against a wall for if he be so Abjects will insult over him though peradventure some may regard him because hee hath eyes to see yet others will contemne him because hee hath no hands to punish so innocencie shall be hopelesse of recompence and the wicked of their desert Againe if he have not power if hee have power only to heare and not to determine or if his power be restrained to some petty Cases and not also extended to matters of greater consequence and moment Appeales will bee made as commonly they are from inferiour Courts to the higher But it is not so here God is the Iudge who as hee is infinite in knowledge so he is in power and authority Wee stile the King Supreame head over all persons and in all causes in his Dominions but God is over all the Dominions of the earth supreame over all not only in all causes and over all persons but over all causes too even Kings are subject to his regiment Hee bindeth Kings in chaines and Nobles in fetters of Iron Psal. 149. The kings of the earth saith Saint Iohn and the rich and the great men and the great Captaines and the mighty men they shall all hide themselves in the caves and rocks and mountaines Revel 15. crying to the mountaines and rockes to cover them from the face of the Iudge and from the wrath of the Lambe because the day of desolation is come Nay God is not only over all the Kings of the earth but he is Potentate of heaven and hell too He hath a commanding power over all the Angels feare the Divels tremble when they come to stand before God In a word as Saint Paul saith all power is of God then of necessitie followeth that God himselfe in his power is most absolute That is the second thing belonging to the office of a Iudge as he must have knowledge to discerne so he must have power to execute Thirdly there must be Iustice in the Execution therefore the Grecians were wont to place Justice betweene Libra and Leo to
you are sealed by the spirit of Promise to the day of redemption Eph. 1. 13. Secondly in regard of possession they are now already in present possession not in full possession but in present possession A possession not in themselves but in Christ by vertue of the union and communion they have in him By the union and contract that is betweene Christ and the soule Christ is become the Husband the Christian the Spouse So that as a Wife if her Husband should travell into a farre Countrey and in her name should take possession of those lands that were left her by her Father the Wife now is possest of those lands in her Husband who in her name hath taken possession of them so Christ entring into heaven hath tooke possession of heaven which is given to us by the will of God It is your Fathers pleasure to give you a kingdome Christ hath possessed it in our name I goe saith he to prepare a place for you and it is my will that they bee where I am I goe to my Father and your Father to my God and your God All that Christ hath in heaven Hee hath it for us Hee is gone before that wee may follow after wee cannot possibly lay claime to heaven wee cannot hope hereafter fully and personally to professe it if Christ had not first taken possession of heaven for us The Use of this in a word shall bee to stirre up every one to looketo his hope of heaven It is usuall for men to possesse their hope to be saved and scarse any but they will say they hope if they die they shall goe to heaven Yea but thou must now possesse it if ever hereafter thou meane to enjoy it and thou must possesse it first in Christ thou must be united to him by faith and love those are the bonds whereby the Spirit of God tyeth us unto Christ therefore Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by faith Which shewes the horrible presumption of many and how they adde to their other sinnes this that they presume that they have right and title to heaven and yet are not united to Christ by faith as if a man should give out that he were the heire apparant to a Crowne or the sonne of a King and yet neverthelesse should indeed be the sonne of a Beggar and have nothing to shew for his pretended title to the Crowne and kingdome what would this be accounted but high treason against the King What a height of sinne is this that is in many men which to their other sinnes adde a presumptuous claime to heaven when they have no right to it I Remember that in the time of Ezra we shall read of many that laid title and claime to the Priesthood but Ezra searched the booke of the Genealogies and finding none of their names Registred there he presently concluded that they were none of the Priesthood therefore they were accounted polluted and put from the Priesthood If any man lay claime to heaven God will search his booke of Genealogies as it were he will search the Register of heaven and if he find that his name be not inrolled there if hee be not found to have interestin Jesus Christ all will be nothing he shall bee cast out to his greater confusion This should therefore stirre up euery one to make good his claime to heaven now either now to bee possest of heaven now to sit in heavenly places with Christ or else looke not to come to heaven afterward But to leave this and to come to that I mainly intend namely the Argument or reason or ground of the Apostles heavenly conversation Our conversation is in heaven from whence wee looke for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. The Apostle observeth here a kind of speech and that which seemes not so Grammaticall that he may thereupon build a sound and substantiall truth in Divinitie He had said before Our conversation is in the heavens in the Plurall number but now when hee speakes of Christs comming thence he speakes of it in the Singular number Our conversation is in the heavens from whence from which particular place Wee looke for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. Of purpose to shew us thus much that though Christ in respect of his Deitie and divine nature he be in all places filling heaven and earth yet in respect of his bodily presence hee remaineth now and so will till his second comming which the Saints looke for in heaven Against those Vbiquitaries that will have the body of Christ to be every where In Heaven say they visible in this place invisible The Papists hence build the Doctrine of Transubstantiation they will have the body of Christ even that very body that was borne of the Virgin to be now Bread and the bread turned into it The Lutherans will have the same Body about the bread No saith the Apostle there is no such matter from thence from that very place that very individuall particular single place from the third heavens where the body of Christ is Wee looke for the Saviour hee remaineth there and so will continue till his comming to Judgement So againe in another place Collos. 3. 1. Set your affections on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Above that is in heaven where Christ sitteth and continueth and will remaine till his second comming Our Saviour told his Disciples in the dayes of his flesh that the poore they should have alwayes with them but me saith he you shall not have alwayes If this be true that they say then Christ hath not said true for hee is still in respect of his bodily presence and hath beene alwayes with us But I let passe that The thing I note hence is this That that which most soundly and effectually settleth the heart of a man in a heavenly conversation upon earth is the looking for the Saviour of the world even the Lord Iesus Christ to come from thence I say there is nothing that so settleth the heart of a man in a heavenly conversation upon earth nothing that makes him so heavenly minded nothing that ordereth him in so heavenly a course as this if hee rightly looke for Christ to come from thence That you may conceive this the better you may please to take notice that there are two things included in this point First that all the Saints of God while they are on earth their continuall expectation is for Christ to come from heaven Secondly that nothing is so effectuall to settle a man in a holy course while he liveth on earth as this expectation These two things I will open to you at this time The first I say is that the Saints and servants of God while they are on earth doe continually expect and looke for the Saviour of the world even the Lord Iesus Christ to come from heaven By the comming of Christ you
bee one part of your endeavour this day to give solemne praise every man apart and his Familie apart for this unspeakable mercie of his in making you live in the dayes of Light and in the bright Sun-shine of the Gospell and you shall prove your selves to have begun to have kept Christs saying if you be thankfull for his making of it knowne unto and for writing of it in your hearts This is the first Use. Next I beseech you let me take boldnesse to reprove I feare a great number of you of a sinne whereof I will make it appeare you are guiltie Men there are that make large promises to themselves that they shall never be damned they shall not goe to Hell they hope Death shall not have power to dragge them from this world to the place of darknesse Thou hopest so Come render a reason of thy hope To hope without a ground is to deceive ones selfe with extreame folly As for example there are a number of prisoners in Newgate or in some other Prison should they hope for some man of great wealth to pay their debts and save them from hanging should they not be arrant fooles to hope except they could shew some ground for their hope and some evidence for their expecting of such a kindnesse Thou that hopest thou shalt never see Death come answer God in thy conscience dost thou keepe the saying of Christ or no Where is the knowledge of the Doctrine of the Gospell Doest thou beleeve that which concernes thee touching thy miserie and so apply that to thy selfe to make thee a penitent sinner Doest thou beleeve the Doctrine concerning the Remedie and so apply that to thy selfe to make thee perfect thy repentance by being not only grieved for sinne but taking boldnesse to confesse it and aske pardon and by framing thy selfe in thankfulnesse to amendment of life and New obedience Doest thou I say know this Doctrine and so know it as to practise it Hope and spare not the more thou hopest the better thy hope is the stronger and surer it is the more thou glorifiest God and the more it shall comfort thee But oh unhappy man if thou findest not in thy selfe the care and power in some measure to doe these things cursed bee thy hopes because they be disgracefull to Almighty God tending to make him a lyar and an unjust person and because they are dangerous to thy owne soule tending to rocke thee asleepe in the cradle of security Cursed be those unsound and sandy-built hopes of most men that never yet applied themselves to confesse and lament their sinnes that never applied themselves to crave pardon and to resolve upon amendment that never studied to throw themselves into the Armes of Gods mercy in Christ for pardon that never intended to mortifie the deedes of the body and to subdue the flesh with the lusts thereof and yet they hope they shall not bee damned thou maist as well hope that the Divell shall come out of Hell into Heaven as thou to goe out of earth in to Heaven If thy hope be not grounded upon the workings of these graces because thou findest thy selfe penitent because thou findest thy selfe carefull to strive to rest wholly upon Christ for salvation because thou findest thy selfe industrious in the studie of newnesse of life except I say thy hope be thus grounded it is the vainest thing in the world and it will never doe thee good at the last houre Brethren give me leave to tell you that there are two Gospells in the world the Gospell of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospell of Beelzebub as I may call it the gospell of the Divell that comes from Hell and tendeth to bring men thither Christs Gospell is Repent and beleeve and obey and be saved The Divels gospell is say you beleeve make your selves imagine that you have faith and then never care for repentance and obedience and you shall be saved Christs Gospell is summed up thus by the Prophets Returne to him and live But the Divels goeth thus Assure thy selfe thou shalt live though thou care not for repentance Oh let not the Divell beguile you with that false and counterfeit Gospell of his whosoever leaneth to it shall find it like the Authour of it a Lyar and when he hath trusted to it that confidence and hope of his shall be as the Spiders web the Beesome of destruction shall sweepe it and him downe to the depth of Hell Death shall have dominion over him and carry him from this present world to the region of darknesse into eternall torment hee shall see Death in the grimnesse and terriblenesse of it he shall feele it in all the extremitie that the wrath of God can inflict upon the children of disobedience Thirdly I have to command and require you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you apply your selves to a thing tending so much to the honour of him and to the commoditie and comfort of your owne soules I have shewed you that Jesus Christ hath revealed a way how you should escape the danger of Death eternall and the hurt of Death naturall I beseech you now fall a doing one while as you have beene busied in hearing To what purpose is it that you flocke to heare Sermons and throng to receive the Word except you lay it up in your hearts and apply your selves to practise If thou hast not begun before now begin if thou hast begun before now resolve to proceed with more life and courage Either begin or persist in the practise of the Doctrine of the Gospell If thou hast not repented I require thee in the name of the living God to make this houre the first beginning of thy repentance and apply thy selfe to lay the foundation of that worke before thou lay thy head to sleepe Goe and call to minde thy sinnes and make thy cheekes wet at least thy heart heavy for the multitude of thy great offences downe on thy knees in thy Closet make thy confession of them to God sigh for them mourne for them labour to weepe for them afflict thy soule with great sorrow and remorse then cry for pardon and remission as the thiefe begs at the barre for mercie so doe thou for the forgivenesse of thy sinnes through Christ Jesus and put upon thy selfe a firme resolution and stedfast purpose to goe on no more in the wayes of wickednesse to practise grosse sinnes no more nor no more to allow any sinne that thou knowest to be a sinne though it be never so small Doe thus my brethren and then you may and will it will follow almost of it selfe rest on Christ for salvation Hee that so seeth his owne sinnes as unfeignedly to lament for them and to judge himselfe before God if hee apprehend the truth of the Doctrine of the Gospell he cannot for his life but come on amaine and throw himselfe downe before Christ to imbrace and receive and entertaine
to make the straight wayes of God crooked to make that that God accounts straight to be crooked this is a setting against God therefore Peter saith to Simon Magus pray if it be possible that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee So you see Saint Paul speakes to Elymas the sorcerer upon the same ground Act. 13. Thou child of the divell and enemy to all righteousnesse wilt thou not cease to pervent the right wayes of God Now I say here are the words and speeches that men speake against the wayes of God these are speeches that argue men in a state whereby they are lyable and open to judgement and exposed to wrath therefore wee should take heed of such words The use may be to condemne those that make light account of words they thinke they may speake it may bee in rashnesse and hastinesse and they may be excused for uttering them it is their hastinesse and their passion and it was done unadvisedly c. I but the Law of God is transgressed the Majestie of God is offended the anger of God is provoked You know what old Eli sayd to his sonnes My sonnes if a man sinne against a man man may plead for him but if he offend against God who shall plead for him I say who shall take up the matter with God in such a case as this when the offence strikes against God and his ordinances and his worship Therefore take heede there is much evill there is life and death as Solomon saith in the power of the tongue that is a man may utterly destroy himselfe by the very words he speakes unadvisedly as hee thinkes and will plead for himselfe or passionately and rashly Againe much more doth it concerne those that proceede to other kinds of wickednesse in the tongue we instanced in some particular instances then that we cannot now stand on We came to direct men to carry themselves in their speech as David to set a watch before the doore of their lippes he prayed to God to doe it And Psal. 39. I sayd that I will take heede to my wayes that I offend not in my tongue And then he prayes to the Lord Psal. 131. to keepe a watch before the doore of his mouth Hee knew well enough that there will be a time when the words that we thinke are sleight and vaine shall be brought to judgement idle unprofitable frothy talke much more rayling and reviling speeches most of all the highest blasphemies and execrations these shall most certainly be brought to a greater censure at the day of judgement But I will not stand on that I then handled Now there remaines three things more The first is this that in the day of judgement God will proceed according to his Law So speake and so doe as those that shall bee judged by the Law I say In the day of judgement God will proceede with men according to his Law Hee will proceede according to his word written therefore labour that your speeches and actions may bee such that they may be agreeable to that Iohn 12. 48. The word that I speake to you saith Christ shall judge you at that day There is not a word that Christ speakes but it shall judge he speakes not in vaine he is the judge that speakes Now you know Christ speakes two wayes Eyther in himselfe Or by his Ministers In himselfe and so eyther that that hee spake when hee was on earth in his his owne person then all the words that hee spake at that time are those words by which he will judge men as farre as they concerne morrall actions by those words he will judge men at the great day for he spake nothing but what was according to his Law Or else that which he spake in his Apostles immediatly by a certaine and infallible worke of the Spirit directing them to such truth as that they could not erre in speaking now in this Christ still spake in them The same way Christ hath in speaking to this day therefore saith he he that heareth you heareth me and he that heareth me heareth him that sent me That which he spake to them hee spake in them concerning all the Ministers of the Gospel What we speake as Ministers that is as men that looke to the direction of our Lord for we are but Embassadours and our words are so far of value and power as they are the speeches of our Lord and as we speake the word of him whose Embassadours we are Now I say looke what the Minister thus speakes as the Embassadour of Christ to the people that Christ will confirme at the day of judgement Now it will appeare what wee speake as Embassadours if we speake nothing but what is agreeable to the text of Scripture rightly understood Therefore marke it whatsoever sinne wee denounce the judgement of God against and urge Scripture for it it is the very rule that Christ will observe in judging men Or else that speech could not stand what yee loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven and what yee bind on earth shall be bound in heaven Wee bind when by declaring of mens sinnes wee denounce the judgement of God against such sinnes and so pronounce men to stand under the wrath of God that remaine in those sinnes saith Christ what you thus binde on earth shall bee bound in heaven that is Gods act shall ratifie and confirme the same sentence in heaven which we denounce here upon earth by vertue of this word So when wee come to distressed soules and declare to them that they stand acquitted and that by the Word of God and so as Ministers of the Gospell by vertue of the truth revealed to us declare that they are freed from the bond and guilt of their sinnes upon those evidences of repentance that they manifest I say it is ratified in heaven Therefore you see there is no other way of proceeding but looke as Christs owne words when hee was upon the earth so the same that are as his owne words that is those truths that are drawne from Christs truths have the same power upon the hearts and consciences of men now to command them and shall have after to judge them as ever they had But here it may be objected it should seeme that all men shall not be judged by the Law because there are some men to whom the Law hath never beene published for what shall wee say to a great part of the world that have not yet received the Scriptures we know that the Scriptures have not beene published to a great part of the world at this day there are many Heathens many Pagans that never had the Scriptures therefore how shall they be judged by the Law except you say that onely those shall bee judged by it that have beene under the preaching of the Gospell and have had the helpe of the Scriptures We answer that all mankinde and every particular man is under
certainly the soule that hath recourse to Christ shall not returne emptie therefore see how Christ is exprest in heaven Matth. 25. Come yee blessed c. for what you have done to these you have done to me hee is in heaven and so Saul why dost thou persecute me hee is in heaven yet in respect of his Church hee is below therefore be assured that Christ hath not put off the bowels of love to his people he will bee the same if thou receive him as a Lord and Saviour as ever he was to his Disciples But it may be objected wee are exposed to many uncertainties though wee beleeve in Christ and wee finde not the comfort of it here Therefore Christ saith rest not upon things present here you are in Tents but you shall come to your fathers house there is a place provided for you betweene which and this there is as much difference as is betweene a House and a Tent betweene a mans owne mansion and an Inne And though you have hard entertainement in the world yet you shall have an abiding place after But you will say indeede there are mansions but there are aboundance to receive them what shall we doe There are many mansions therefore looke as there are many children to be brought to glory so there are many places to receive them in glory and to settle them there wee see what a vast body the Sunne is and the Starres are yet they seeme but little sparkes in comparison of the heavens above us but what is the heaven of heavens that containe all these infinitly beyond in its owne compasse there are many mansions But how shall we come to heaven Saith Christ I goe to prepare a place for you as if he should say all that I have done is for your sakes I die and ascend and sit at the right hand of God for your sakes I will come at the day of judgement to bring you to glory all that Christ doth now as God-man as Mediator betweene good and us all is for our sake But when Christ is taken from us how shall wee get thither Saith he I will come and bring you with me I will come in glory at the day of Iudgement in the clouds and inable you to meete me and thence bring you to those heavenly mansions in my fathers house never doubt how these things shall bee done I will doe them all Thus Christ would confirme their faith there is the greatest happinesse and comfort in this wherein he would have them setled this should stir us up to settle our hearts this way But the time is past this shall be sufficient for this time FINIS FAITHS TRIUMPH OVER THE GREATEST TRYALLS 1 JOH 5. 4. This is the victory that overcommeth the world even our Faith ROM 8. 37. Nay in all these things wee are more then Conquerours LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. FAITHS TRIVMPH OVER THE GREATEST TRYALLS SERMON XXXII HEB. 11. 17. By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up his sonne Isaac and hee that had received the promise offered up his onely begotten sonne THis Chapter doth speake in the commendation of the Faith of many of the Patriarchs and Abraham among the rest is brought in with a manifest testimony of his Faith there be two things observable which Abrahams faith strengthened him to act one was to give up his Countrey the other was to give up his Sonne to give up his Countrey in the 8. verse by faith Abraham when hee was called of God to goe out in a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and hee went out not knowing whether hee went To leave our friends our parents to take our journey wee know not whither to live among wee know not whom and all this upon a bare word this was not an easie thing to part with good land for some good words this was a hard matter sence derides it and reason contemnes it and will not hearken to it but Faith can see more in Gods promise then sence can find Abraham will leave his Countrey when God calls him to it but never shall lose his Inheritance by beleeving and obeying no man did ever yet hazard his estate who could part with it upon obedient tearmes A second thing that hee is to part with is with his Sonne his only sonne his first begotten sonne in this Act of faith Abraham sayles against wind and tyde where hee breakes through the contentments of the world not only of sence and reason but of naturall affection The story in a word is this God after many yeares patience at length gave Abraham a sonne in his old age he was the child of many prayers and of many teares the parents delight and to Abrahams thinking an heire of life because a child of the Promise hee had not long spent his gray haires in a strange land but God on a sudden calls upon Abraham to give backe his sonne his very sonne Isaac as we may reade in the 22 of Genesis Now what doth Abraham doe how doth hee behave himselfe doth he expostulate with God Any thing Lord but spare my sonne Isaac Nay the Text saith hee offered up his sonne Doth hee murmure and grumble against God in this manner Lord why dost thou single out this delight of mine why dost thou seeme to envie this blessing of mine No hee offered up his Isaac as if the Text had expressed Abrahams language thus O Lord my God what is it that thou callest for whom is it that thou callest for is it for my only sonne Isaac the sonne of my love the sonne of thy promise the sonne of my age verely Lord thou shalt have him it is true I love him dearely well but I love thee better I got him by beleeving and I shall never lose him by obeying if Isaac were a thousand sonnes thou shouldest have them all though I am a father yet Lord thou art a God if I give him he is a sacrifice acceptable and though I kill him yet thou canst quicken him and raise him againe I shall never lose my Isaac though I part with my sonne for thou hast said in Isaac shall thy seed bee called Now the parts of these words are two First we have Abrahams great tryall Secondly we have Abrahams acquitment First his tryall Abraham was tried when hee offered up his sonne Secondly his acquitment by Faith Abraham offered up his sonne In the former we may observe three particulars First the person that is tryed Abraham Secondly the Person that tried him God Thirdly the thing wherein hee war tried it was no ordinary thing it was to part with a part of himselfe to offer up his deare sonne Isaac In the latter part two things are observable First his quickening up himselfe in his obedientiall act hee offered up Isaac saith the Text. Secondly the powerfull cause which did inable Abraham to so
I remember a policie of Saint Paul in his Epistle hee wrote to Philemon he writes to him for the re-entertainment of a runnagate servant that hee had begotten to God in his bonds and for the better effecting of it in his inscription he not only writes to Philemon but joynes with him Philemons wife To Philemon our dearely beloved and to our beloved Appia Philem. 1. 2. Wherefore was this For nothing else I beleeve but to warne her of her dutie that when the receiving of Onesimus was manifested to her Husband as a needfull dutie and a thing pleasing to Almightie God she should not put in her spoke to withstand the motion but further it by all the meanes wee could It was to this end that the woman was created that shee might be a helpe to her Hueband in all honest offices to joyne with him to incourage him to provoke him and assist him in the performance of them Fourthly and lastly to omit many other things recorded of her that I might here relate to you and to come to that that more neerely concernes this present occasion it is said of Rachel shee died in travell God had commanded Iacob to rise and goe up to Bethel and dwell there hee obeyed and erected a Pillar in the place where God talked with him thence hee journeyed a little further to Ephrath and there Rachel travelled and had hard labour in the sufferance of which which might be some ease shee received a great deale of comfort from her Midwife who bade her not feare for shee should have this sonne also but it came to passe as her soule was departing for shee died that her sonnes name was called Benoni that is a sonne of sorrow as we see verse 18. Who can expresse the woe of that day and the bitternesse of that losse to Iacob who was now bereft of his dearely-beloved Wife by the fruit of whose wombe hee had reaped such increase of blessing before the children had the care of two watching over them now only of one and that such a one as was not accustomed to interest himselfe in training up young Children but left it to her and shee tooke it from him O death voide of mercy and respect of persons that shee should die it was some grieâ—…e to him but that shee died in travell that did most trouble him and increase his griefe And well might hee style their sonne Benoni the sonne of sorrow for it was indeed a sorrow to them all to her to him to their issue to their friends and acquaintance to their servants to all that knew them or had any relation to them But Iacob will not exceed the bounds of Christianitie hee was at the last comforted he referres himselfe his children his infinite and almost insupportable losse to God Almighties pleasure from him she was received and to him he is content againe to returne all The mourning and lamenting that he made on her behalfe it could not recall her againe all the teares he could shed for her were of no force or power at all to make her alive too much sorrow might happily indanger his owne life and then he should highly offend against Almightie God Patience and Christian fortitude were the only remedies left him and these he resolves on Let us learne hence as long as the world lasts to know that worldly comforts whatsoever they be and howsoever wee may esteeme of them they are subject to change Love with unfeignednesse what may be so loved but take heed you love not too much for feare the taking of that away from you that was so dearely loved of you make you fall into impatience and sinne against God Let us so love that we may thinke of losse if it stand with Gods pleasure but yet let us so love that wee esteeme it no losse if hee please Let his good will and pleasure ever-more moderate our affections so happily we shall enjoy the thing beloved a great deale longer But if wee exceed in lamenting were we as just and righteous as Iacob God will be angrie with us for it Not only thy dearest Wife but thy dearest Child thy dearest friend whatsoever is most deare to thee shall then feele the stroake of mortalitie that the heart may bee taught to wish for eternitie crying heavily and sighing with a mournfull voyce with those words of the Preacher Vanitie of vanities all is but vanitie There is a threefold punishment inflicted upon all women kind in answer to the three sinnes committed by our Grandmother Eve First because shee gave too much credit to the words of the Serpent telling her that both Adam and she shovld bee as Gods knowing good and evill therefore it was pronounced presently upon her that her sorrowes and conceptions should bee multiplied Secondly because against the expresse command of Almightie God she did eate the forbidden fruit therefore it was pronounced against her that in sorrow she should bring forth Children every time her houre was at hand shee should hardly escape death I need not inlarge my selfe you all know it to be too true nay sometimes and that oft-times too it costs your lives an example wee have here in the Text in Rachel and in our deceased Sister here before us and many others Thirdly and lastly because she was a seducer of her Husband therefore for a punishment all your desires ought to be subject to your Husbands and by the warrant of the Scripture they must rule over you Death is a debt to nature and must be paid there is no avoyding of it no putting it off when GOD thinkes it fit it is infallible to all in respect of the matter and end though in respect of the time and manner many times it be divers Some die when they are young some in the middle of their age and some live till they be very old That for the time Some die of Convulsions some of Dropsies some of Feavers and to be short some in Child-bed as Rachel here did and our departed Sister But of what disease soever they die that is nothing die they must sooner or later of this infirmitie or that it is no matter which when it pleaseth God Let a man make what shew hee can with all his glorious adornations Let him have rich apparell and disguised linnen and searecloth and balme and spices let him be inwrapped in lead and let stone immure him when hee is dead yet the earth his originall Mother will againe owne him for her naturall Child and triumph over him with these or the like insultings he is in my bowells returned to his earth This bodie returnes not immediatly to heaven but to the earth nor to the earth neither as a stranger and altogether unknowne to him but to his earth appropriate to him as his owne his familiar friend and old acquaintance To conclude wee are sinfull and therefore wee must die we are full of evill and therefore we must goe to the grave
it proves with all things thou performest with intent to please God and glorifie him though they fall more prosperous or lesse prosperous in the event yet the conclusion converts them all to the glorie of God his pleasure and the advantage of the owner and there they lye and their recompence also But some man may say I have continued a great while in the exercise of doing of good I am now old and have lived thus long at my trade and thus long I have beene a House-keeper and thus long have had an estate in my hands all which time I have ever employed my selfe in the performance of good offices for others and did not intermit any occasion that might invite me to the doing of good And is it not yet time to cease No saith Solomon in the morning sow thy seed and in the evening let not thy hand rest For all those words are but severall answers to severall objections So we thy seed in the morning of thy life when thy estate begins to be improved and then even in the evening of thy life when thou hast left off gaining cease not to persist in giving Saith another man You must not loppe the twigge too soone that is but beginning to grow I am but how in the way to thrive and when I am further entred into that course I will not faile to extend my goodnesse to others So we thy seed in the morning of thy life But saith another man I have done that already and now it ceaseth to be with me as before by reason I follow not my trade and have no more possibilitie of getting But let not thy hand cease in the evening saith God When thy shop windowes are shut up thy compassion must still continue open when thou hast bid gaine adue and taken thy leave of all the wayes of getting even then if thou enjoy an estate in thine hands and abilitie to doe good there is no excuse for thee to cease from bestowing it though it be in the evening Thus wee see there is no time excepted nor person to be refused if necessitie require but a man must doe good to all men at all times So much for that But the matter chiefly intended is these two That there are some poore of the houshold of faith That is the first God hath in the houshold of faith some that stand in need of reliefe Secondly that all that are in the houshold should especially looke unto them First I say there are some of the houshold of faith true beleevers whose wants call for releefe So wee see Christ speakes as it were for himselfe when hee speakes of them I was hungrie and you did not feed me I was naked and you did not cloath mee Those that Christ ownes as his and accounts them a part of himselfe even those are hungrie and naked And so likewise God hath chosen the poore of this world rich in faith They be rich in faith and so of Gods houshold of faith and yet neverthelesse poore in this world You shall see an example of this A Widow comes to Elisha the Prophet and tels him Thy servant my husband was a man fearing God and yet notwithstanding the creditour is comming upon me and will have my sonnes to bee bond-slaves The man feared God and yet neverthelesse the poore Widow wanted meanes and her sonnes must be exposed to extremitie of bondage for discharge of his fathers ingagements A hard case and yet the case of a man fearing God You see there are those of Macedonia that send helpe to the poore Saints of Acâ—… they were Saints and yet poore receiving helpe from a company of poore people at Macedonia being so poore that the Apostle beares witnesse of them they gave above their abilitie We see a poore man and yet an heire of heaven lying full of sores and in want at the gate of Dives that was after throwne into hell An heire of heaven and yet on earth a Beggar You see then beloved the point is true now wee will descend and see how it appeares to be so and for what respect it comes to passe by Gods providence First it becomes so that there may be a conformitie betweene the head and the members for Christ that was rich for our sakes became poore saith the Scripture even Christ that was rich and Lord over all became poore and in the forme of a servant unto all for our sakes so poore that wee see the foxes had holes and the fowles of the ayre had nests but our Redeemer had no shelter no not so much roome as to rest his head Now there must bee a conformitie betweene Christ and his members if the head be poore necessitie makes the other members partake of the same Cuppe Againe secondly if you observe and looke on the condition of Gods Saints of the houshold of faith on earth here you shall find small occasion to marvell at their simple estates considering they are a company of travellers and Pilgrims in this world I beseech you as Pilgrims and strangers c. They are not only strangers which may have riches convaide unto them after some certaine stay in a place But they are Pilgrims and time will not permit their abode in one place upon any condition of advantage for their profession compells them from one place to another On whom our Proverbe may truly be verified that a rouling stone gathers nothing They are Pilgrims and Pilgrims desires extend no further in this life then a staffe and a scrippe This is the brood of travellers saith David that seeke thy face Thirdly there followes another reason and that proceedes from the opposition they find in the world against their course the world labours to make them poore and having prevailed like an imperious Jaylour to a distressed prisoner endevours to keepe them under And it comes so to passe in regard of the naturall enmitie and division that is in the world in opposition of the wayes of God You shall find that our Saviour intending to goe to Ierusalem made his way through Samaria and dispatched some before to provide him lodging But the Samaritans understanding or suspecting that he was minded to goe thither refused to entertaine him They would not receive him saith the Text Why Because he was going unto Ierusalem Beloved thus deales the world with the members of Christ if they would relie on the world and make that their end as they doe then riches should flow in in abundance and their estates might arive to be as eminent and mightie as others But if their mindes be resolved for Ierusalem and their eyes reflect that way Let them seeke their owne entertainment for they shall receive no benefit nor enjoy any contentment by their permission Lastly God disposeth it to be so by his wondrous providence that his glory may be so much the more
withereth and is fit for nothing but the Oven so it is with our lives Many expressions of the like nature might be added the Scripture is plentifull in these comparisons comparing our life to the Spiders webbe to a Weavers shuttle to the breath of a candle to a pilgrimage to a journey to the dayes of an hireling c. all of them things of a changeable and variable nature The second argument may be taken from the qualitie of our Natures and therein there are two things considerable both which imply a certaintie of death First our composition and matter whereof we are made wee are reared out of a mouldering and wasting principle our bodies are therefore stiled an earthly house 2 Cor. 5. 1. A house though of Iron will in time be cankered but a house of earth as it is most impotent against assaults so it is of its owne nature most apt and subject to dissolution And in this respect also they ar termed Tabernacles Now a Tabernacle you know is a thing of no perpetuitie made only to be soone set up and that in a mans passage and then asso one taken downe againe Secondly beside this there is in our nature sinne and corruption and this is it that doth put us to the sword and cause this deadly change this tares our lives with a continuall consumption The tree breedes the worme which will destroy the life of the tree wee in Adam gave leave to sinne and now it is that sin gives leave to death In the day that thou shalt eate thereof thou shalt surely dye Gen. 2. 17. and Rom. 5. 12. By one man sinne entered into the world and death by sinne and so death passed over all men in that all have sinned The shadow doth not so neerely attend the body of man as Death doth the body of sinne And Rom. 6. 23. the very wages of sinne is death God should doe that man wrong that hath hired out his soule all his dayes to sinne if he did not at night pay him with the wages of death The third Argument may be drawne from the certaintie of the Resurrection wee all beleeve the resurrection of our bodyes and and therefore wee must needes conclude a change of our bodyes for what is the Resurrection but life from death for the dead to heare the voyce of Christ and live What is it but a breathing in of the soule againe the lighting of the candle againe the body could never be raised if it were not first changed Thou foole saith Saint Paul 1 Cor. 15. that which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye The fourth Argument is from the infallibilitie of Gods decree it is appointed unto men once to dye and after death to come to judgement Heb. 9. 27. Thou mayest sooner expect that the course of the Heavens shall bee altered and the Center of the earth bee dislocated then that the purpose of God concerning mans mortalitie should bee reversed nay that may be for heaven and earth shall passe away but this shall never be not one jot of the word of God shall fall to the ground God hath purposed it and none shall disanull it nay he hath established his purpose with a word of confirmation Gen. 2. in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye As if hee should have said Doe not deceive thy selfe but build upon it I have spoken it and will not alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth as sure as thou livest if thou eatest thou shalt dye Thus you see the first assertion cleared unto you I will addresse my selfe now to the second of which briefly too and then make Application of them both together As there is a certaintie of our change so wee should alway waite till it doth come There are two things which I will here inquire of for the fuller illustration of this point First what this continuall wayting may import Secondly why there should be such a constant wayting for the day of our mortall change First this continuall wayting mainly imports two things one acertaine expectation of death for wayting is an act of Hope expecting something if wee doe hope for that wee see not then doe wee with patience waite for it saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 15. A man is then sayd to wayte for death when hee is looking for it at every turne as a Steward waites for his Master when hee continually expects his returne when upon every voice hee heares or upon every knocke at the doore hee saith oh my Master is come this is hee that knockes So a man is sayd to wayte for death when in every action of his life in every motion of his estate in every passage of his courses sayth well I must dye when though his bones are full of marrow yet I must dye when though riches come in like a flood yet I must dye when changes appeare upon himselfe or others yet I must dye I have no abiding here I am but a sojourner and a stranger as all my fathers were I must not enjoy my Wife for ever Children for ever Friends for ever Lands for ever these comforts for ever my life for ever it is but a lease which may soon expire I am but a steward and I must bee called to an account such a one is gone before and I must follow after the writ of habeas corpus hath seized on him and for ought I know the next may bee for mee so when death comes I am readie to answer it as Abraham did his Sonne Isaack here I am it comes not upon mee as a thiefe in the night when I am a sleep and thinke not of him but as Ionathans arrow to David who stayed in the field and expected when it should bee shot and then hee rose up and embraced him Yee Brethren sayth Paul in 1 Thes. 5. 4. are not in darknesse that that day should overtake you as a theife ye are all the children of the light therefore let us not sleepe as doe others but let us watch and bee sober This is the first thing that wayting imports Another thing it imports is a serious preparation for the day of our change for it is not a naked expectation of a change arising from the certainty of death but it is also a religious preparation improving the interim of time for the best advantage for a mans soule before the day of change doth come which is here implyed in wayting Solomon calls it a remembring Eccles. 12. 1. Remember thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth whiles the evill dayes come not and the yeares draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them what is this remembring of the Creatour but a care to know him a feare to offend him a studie to obey him and when is that to bee done Now now remember there must bee a present acting of this Moses calls it a numbring of our dayes Psal. 90. 12. and
thanked God that in his old age he was free from his most Imperious mistris lust these men on the contrary desire to inthrall themselves againe in youthly pleasures and concupisence in them is kindled even by the defect of fewell it vexeth them that their sinnes forsake them that through the impotencie of their limbes and faculties they cannot runne into the like excesse as in former times their few dayes before death are like Shrovetide before Lent they take their fill of flesh and fleshly desires because they suppose that for ever after they must fast from them Thus they spurre on their jadish flesh now unable to runne her former Stages saying let us crowne our selves with Rose-buds for they will presently wither let us eate and drinke for to morrow we shall dye To reconcile the seeming difference betweene the miracle of humane wisedome Aristotle and the Oracle of divine Solomon two distinctions may bee made use of Of old Age. 1 In the entry when it is vigorous 2 In the exit when it is decrepit et ne ad mala quidem bona Of old Men. 1 As they ought to bee 2 As they are When Euripides was taxed as too great a favourer of the female Sex because in all his Tragedies he brought in vertuous women and fitted them with good parts to Act whereas Sophocles and other Poets of that Age brought lewd and immodest women upon the Stage and put odious parts upon them hee made this Apologie for himselfe others sayth hee in their Poems set forth women as they are but I such as they should be Solomons words are capable of a like construction desire fayleth because man goeth to his long home that is it doth in the best and should in all for what a preposterous thing were it for a man that hath one foore alreadie in the grave and is drawing the other after to desire to cut a crosse caper and dance the morrice or for him that is neere his eternall Mansion houâ—…e to hankerby the way and feast and revell it in an Inne Moreover Solomon here speaketh of a Barzillai who hath no taste of his meate no sence of delight no use in a manner of sense to whom dainties are no dainties because hee cannot taste them musicke is no musicke because hee cannot heare 〈◊〉 sweet odours are no sweet odours because he cannot smell them precious stones are no precious stones because hee cannot valeâ—… them the fairest beauties are no beauties because hee cannot discerne them In a word hee speaketh of an old man in whom all carnall lusts are either quite extinct or happily exchanged into spirituall or swallowed up with sorrow and feare of death and a horrible apprehension of judgement And so I come to the third Stage which is the litterall sense and genuine interpretation of the words As in Origen his Hexapla every word almost had an Asterisk or starre upon it so there needs a starre or some other light to be put upon every word of this Text for there is a mist of obscuritie upon each of them and a man may well misse his way if hee know not exactly who is here the man what 's meant by his going or gate where is his long home and whence are these Mourners First whether man bee taken Collectivè for the whole kinde or Species as the Logicians speake or Distributivè for every man in particular wee shall seeme to bee at a losse Man taken Collectivè stirres not a foot to his long home for Philosophie reprieveth universall natures from death or dissolution and true it is though single men every day dye yet mankinde dieth not If man bee taken Distributivè for all particular men of what ranke or qualitie soever wee shall have much to doe to distinguish the men in the former part of the Text from the mourners in the latter If all are attended with mourners to their funerall then mourners themselves must have mourners and so either the traine will bee infinite or the lag will bee destitute of mourners Secondly why useth hee this phrase of going if it import death sith some expect death and move not at all towards it some runne to it to some it is sent some leape into it as Cleombrotus some ride to it in state as Antiochus Epiphâ—…nes some are tumbled downe into it as S. Parius Melius some are dragged to it as Sejanus In a word when death surprizeth most men and that in all postures of the bodie why is dying here called going man goeth Thirdly where is this long home in Heaven or in Earth Purgatorie or Hell If wee speake of Heaven or Hell the Epithet long falls short for they are eternall habitations of Purgatorie or the grave suppose there were any Purgatorie yet neither of them may bee properly termed a long home sith neither the bodie stayes long in the one nor the soule in the other Fourthly whence are these mourners if they are mercenarie and hyred from home they are no true mourners if they are true mourners they keepe their Closets they gad not about the streets they shut themselves long at home for their friends that are gone to their long home To dispell all this mist of obscuritie and set a light upon each of the materiall words of the Text I answer To the first Quere that a man is here to be taken neither Collective for all mankinde in a lumpe nor Distributivè for every particular man without exception but indefinite or communiter for man in the ordinary course or tract for you shall hardly finde a man that hath no friend to drop a teare into his Grave As for the last men that shall stand upon the earth and shall bee alive at Christs comming they shall indeed passe by death properly yet they shall dye after a sort by passing from a mortall state to an immortall and if their long home bee Heaven they shall need no mourners if Hell they shall want none to beare them companie for at Christs second comming all kindreds of the earth shall mourne before him I answer To the second that going here is not taken pro motu progressivo in speciall as walking or running but in generall for passing to another world which way so ever whether wee make our way or it bee made for us whether wee goe to death or death come to us nay whether wee stirre onlie still whether wee are sound of foote or lame never had feet or have lost them wee goe this way of all flesh as I shall shew hereafter I answere To the third that by long home according to the Chaldee Paraphrasâ—… is here meant the grave or the place where our bodies or to speake more properly our remaines are bestowed and abide till the time of the restitution of all things the Originall is Beth gâ—…olemo which S. Ierome renders domum aeternitatis sâ—… because from thence as Lyra noteth he never returneth to live here
saith the spirit Or because this asseveration concerning the condition of the Saints departed is propositia necessaria as the Schooles speake we will cloath the members of the division with tearmes apodicticall and in this verse observe 1. A conclusion sientificall whereof the parts are 1. The subject indefinite mortui the dead 2. The attribute absolute beati blessed 3. The cause propter quam the Lord or dying in the Lord. 2. The proofe demonstrative and that two-fold 1. A priori 1. By a heavenly oracle I heard a voyce c. 2. A divine testimonie So saith the spirit 2. A posteriori by arguments drawne 1. From their cessation from their worke They rest from their labours 2. Their remuneration for their workes Their workes follow them Where the matter is pretious a decision of the least quantitie is a great losse and therefore as the spie of nature observeth the Iewellers will not rubbe out a small clowde or specke in an orient Rubie because the lessening the substance will more disadvantage them then the fetching out of the spot advance them in the sale Neither will the Alcumists lose a drop of quintessence nor the Apothecaries a graine of Bezar nor an exact Commentatour upon holy Scriptures any syllables of a voyce from heaven the eccho whereof is more melodious to the soule then any consort of most tuneable voyces upon earth can be In which regard I hold it fit to relinquish my former divisions and insist upon each word of this verse as a Bee sitteth upon each particular flower that wee may not lose any drop of doctrine sweeter then the honey and the honey combe any leafe of the tree of life any dust of the gold of Ophir 1. I there were three men in holy Scriptures tearmed Iedidiah that is Beloved of God Solomon Daniel and Saint Iohn the Evangelist and to all these God made knowne the secrets of his Kingdome by speciall revelation and their prophecies are for the most part of a mysticall interpretation This Revelation was given to Iohn when hee was in the spirit upon the Lords day and if wee religiously observe the Lords day and then bee in the spirit as hee was giving our selves wholly to the contemplation of Divine mysteries wee shall also heare voyces from heaven in our soules and consciences Heard with what eares could Saint Iohn heare this voyce sith hee was in a spirituall rapture which usually shutteth up all the doores of the senses I answer that as spirits have tongues to speake withall whereof wee reade 1 Cor. 13. 1. Though I speake with the tongues of men and Angels so they have eares to heare one another that is a spirituall facultie answerable to our bodily sense of hearing The Apostle sayth of himselfe that hee was in the spirit and as he was in the spirit so he saw in the spirit and heard inthe spirit and spake in the spirit and moved in the spirit and did all those things which are recorded in this Booke When Saint Paul was wrapd up into the third Heaven and heard there words that cannot be uttered and saw things which cannot bee represented with the eye hee truely and really apprehended those objects yet not with carnall but spirituall sences where with Saint Iohn heard this voice A voyce from Heaven The Pythagoreans taught that the Calestiall spheares by the regular motions produced harmonious sounds and the Psalmist teacheth us that the Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy worke and that there is no speech nor language where there voyce is not heard but that was the voyce of Heaven it selfe demonstrately proving and after a sort proclaiming the Majestie of the Creatour But this is vox de coelo a voyce from Heaven pronounced by God himselfe or formed by an Angell so Gasper Melo expresly teacheth us Saint Iohn heard a voyce not sounding outwardly but inwardly framed by that Angell who revealed unto him the whole Apocalypse Saint Iohn here heard a voyce from Heaven commanding him to Write and Sain Austin heard a voyce from Heaven commanding him to Read Tolle lege and most requesite it is that where Heaven speakes the earth should heare and where God writes that man should reade There never yet came any voice from Heaven which it did not much import and concerne the earth to heare The first voice that came from Heaven was heard on Mount Sinai and it was to confirme the Law to bee of divine authoritie and establish our faith in God the Creatour A second voice from Heaven we heare â—…o in Saint Peter on the holy Mount when the Apostles were there with Christ and it was to confirme the Gospell and to establish our faith in Christ the Redeemer A third voice or sound was heard from Heaven in the upper roome where Christs Apostles were assembled in the day of Pentecost and it was to confirme out faith in the holy Ghost the Comforter A fourth voice that came from Heaven was heard by Saint Peter in a vision and it was to confirme our faith in the Catholike Church and the Communion of Saints and the incorporating both Iewes and Gentileâ—… in one mysticall bodie Lastly a voice was heard from Heaven by Saint Iohn in this place to establish our faith in the last Article of the Creed concerning the happinesse of the dead and the glorious estate of the Tryumphant Church and the life of the World to come If wee desire to bee informed concerning the affaires of the Abissens or those of China Sumatra or Iapan wee conferre with those that are of the same Countrey or have travelled into those parts and for the like reason if wee desire to bee instructed concerning the state and condition of the Citizens of the Heavenly Ierusalem their infinite number their excellent order their singular priviledges their everlasting joyes their feasts their robes their palmes their thrones their crownes wee must enquire of them who either are inhabitants there or have brought us newes from thence nothing but a voice from Heaven can enforce our assent to these heavenly mysteries Now as all words of Kings are of great authoritie but especially their Edicts and Proclamations so all voices from Heaven are highly to bee regarded and religiously obeyed but especially Decrees and Statutes which are commanded by the authoritie of the high Court of Heaven to bee written for perpetuitie such as this is in my Text I heard a voyce from Heaven saying Write with a Pen of Diamond in letters never to bee obliterated write it so that it may bee read of men in all succeeding Ages even to the last man that shall stand upon the earth Here I cannot sufficiently admire the boldnesse of Cardinall Bellarmine who to disparage the necessitie of holy Scripture and cry up unwritten traditions which are the best evidence hee can produce for his new Trent Creed blusheth not to publish it to the World in
at her death Her life was well knowne to most of this place and her death was every way answerable to her life all that visited her in her sicknesse might behold with sorrow a pittifull anatomie of fraile mortalitie and yet with joy a perfect patterne of Christian patience and a heavenly conversation and though shee were full of divine conceptions and shee had a spring by her of the waters of life in the devotion of her dearest helper especially in the best things yet when I came to her shee desired shee might be partaker of some of my meditations they were her owne words and when I prayed with her and for her shee joyned not so much with me with her tongue as her affections and answered more in sighes and teares then in words often shee complained of her tuffe heart that would not yeeld to her dissolution and long long sheethought it till shee should come to appeare before the God of Gods in Sion Her last words were sweet Father helpe me and shee had her request for presently hee helped her both by the zealous and most feeling prayers of her Husband and by the holy spirit assisting her in her owne prayers with sighes and groanes that cannot be expressed and immediatly her swâ—…et Father released her of her pangs and received her to himselfe on his owne day On the Lords day morning before the morning watch I say before the morning watch shee entered into her rest and began to keepe her evarlasting Sabbath in heaven where shee reapeth what she sowed and seeth what shee beleeved and enjoyeth what she hoped for and is now entered into those joyes which never entered fully into the heart of any living on earth nor shall into ours till wee with her be made perfect and all of us come to Mount Sion and the heavenly Ierusalem and innumerable company of Angels and to the Congregation of the first-borne whose names are written in heaven and to the spirits of just men and women made perfect Whether the God of peace bring us in our appointed time who brought againe from the dead the great sheepheard through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant To whom with the holy Spirit c. FINIS FAITHS ECCHO OR THE SOVLES AMEN ISAY 64. 1. Oh that thou wouldest rent the Heavens that thou wouldest come downe IER 11. 5. So bee it O Lord. Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. FAITHS ECCHO OR THE SOVLES AMEN SERMON XLVII REVELA 22. 19. Amen Even so come Lord Iesus THese words they afford to us a comfortable and sweet argument to bee conversant in From the sixt verse of this Chapter is set down to us the confirmation of the whole Prophesie and booke of the Revelation partly by the affirmation of God as likewise of Jesus Christ and of Iohn himselfe that heard and saw all these things and likewise of the Church of God in the 17. verse it is likewise confirmed by the promise of blessing and happinesse pronounced upon them that shall doe all these things and shall faithfully expect the accomplishment of them This verse a part of which I have read to you is the repetition in few words of all that matter that goeth before from the 6. verse to it and hath in it First an attestation of our Lord and Saviour Christ in the former part of the verse Behold I come quickly Secondly an acclamation of the Church in the latter part these words I have read to ye Amen even so come Lord Iesus In the attestation of Christ hee promiseth hee will come to his Church hee will come shortly both for the accomplishment of all his promises and likewise for their safety and deliverance from all enemies and all miseries and molestations whatsoever To this the Church makes an acclamation and saith Amen even so come Lord Iesus In this acclamation of the Church to which wee must now come we are to consider First the person of the speaker whose words they bee Secondly what is the matter or substance contained in them Yee shall see whose words they bee if ye looke backe but to the 17. verse of this Chapter there ye shall finde that first it is sayd the Spirit sayth come By the Spirit is not meant the third Person in Trinitie the holy Ghost because hee is not subject to these passions to these desires but hee resteth himselfe in the execution and present disposing and dispensing of things according to his owne will and pleasure Neither by Spirit here is meant any wicked spirit or Angell for they doe with feare and horrour expect the same comming of our Lord and Saviour Christ because his comming shall bee the accomplishment of their miserie and eternall infelicitie But by Spirit here is meant the spirit in all the Elect and holy people of God in whomsoever the Spirit of God is that Spirit doth say come and doth wish the accomplishment of all these most gracious promises For this is not the desire of the flesh or of nature but an earnest and vehement desire of the Spirit of God in the Elect that saith come Againe secondly the same verse telleth us that the Bride sayth come That is the Church of God in generall the Catholike Church the whole Church of God being now hand-fasted to Christ and entred into a spirituall contract with him Shee desireth the consumation of the Marriage the solemniation of the Marriage which is alreadie begun in the contract of it and not onely every particular member of the Church in whom the Spirit of God is saith come but the Church of God in generall the Bride sayth come the whole Church saith come wishing and desiring the accomplishment of the Marriage which is already begun In the third place the same verse telleth us that as the Spirit and the Bâ—…ide say come so hee that heareth saith come that is not onely the Church of God that is now present here upon the face of the earth but the successive parts of the Church in all future Ages they are all of the same minde having received the same Spirit they all say come Whosoever heareth this Prophesie whosoever heareth of these promises in any Age or Countrey of the World all they having the same spirit they must needes say come hee that heareth sayth come hee that is acquainted with the promises that commeth to the knowledge of them and doth mingle them with the faith of his soule this man must needs say come to the accomplishment of them And lastly Hee that is a thirst sayth come too that is whosoever hath tasted of the sweetnesse of Christ in any measure whatsoever and therby hath wrought in him a vehement thirst after more this man will say come Whosoever hath such a sence of Christ in his promises as to taste of the sweetnesse of these never so little as hee that hath tasted a droppe of honey wisheth for more so hee that hath tasted of the sweetnesse of Christ a
Inhabitants of the world This I say is that that affecteth the heart exceedingly that they must lose all their friends specially when husband and wife must part parents and children must part and familiar and deare acquaintance must part this causeth the feare of death because the heart is too much set upon the creature So likewise worldly businesse when a man loveth much employment much businesse he cannot abide to thinke of death Why so because all worke all enterprises cease in the grave as Iob saith A man hath neither the workes of his hands nor the enterprises of his head in the grave all actions cease both of the mind and bodie there So when a mans heart is set upon pleasures below there is neither love nor hatred in the grave saith Solomou That is those things that affected the heart that men love they cease there all his pleasures and comforts are gone So if a man love honour and applause amongst men it ceaseth in the grave all honour there is laid in the dust contempt is cast upon Princes this is that that affecteth men exceedingly that they shall lose their honours and pleasures and acquaintance and businesse and all when they come to the grave and that because mens hearts are set too much upon these things That is the second reason There is a third thing which is a sinfull cause of this feare of Death and that is the want of Assurance There be two things that a man not being assured of makes him feare Death and these may be in the children of God and as they are more in any one so the feare of death is more in them The first is when they are not assured of reconciliation with God that God is at peace with them pleased with them in Christ. The want of this assurance makes death fearefull for now they looke upon Death as a Sergeant as a Jaylour either it is a Sergeant to take them off their present comforts or as a Jaylour to hold them under those bonds and fetters that they would faine escape Now when a man looks upon Death either way it is terrible As a Sergeant so the rich man in the Gospell This night they shall fetch thy soule from thee they shall come to thee as a Sergeant to a Debtour to require a debt they shall require thy soule of thee Now we all know that a man that is in debt and either hath it not to pay or is unwilling to part with that he hath such a man cannot indure the sight of a Sergeant above all men because he commeth to fetch that from him that he would not part with Or if he looke upon Death as a Jaylour so Christ saith Agree with thy adversarie quickly lest hee deliver thee to the Iudge and hee give thee to the Iaylour and then he holdeth thee in prison from whence thou shalt not goe out till thou have paid the uttermost farthing Now when a man looks on Death as a Jaylour that holdeth all in the grave till the great Judge of heaven and earth calleth for them at the generall day of Assizes that great day of appearance when all the world shall be gathered together and every prison shall giue up their prisoners The sea and the grave shall give up their dead I say when a man standeth thus as unreconciled to God or at least as one that doth not apprehend this reconciliation is not perswaded of this that God is reconciled to him it is no marvell if Death be terrible to him Therefore in the sixth of the Revelation The Kings and Captaines and the great and mighty men they cryed to the mountaines to fall upon them and to hide them from the presence of the Lambe because the great day of wrath was come and who could stand So we see in 33. Isa. 14. there is crying out concerning the comming of God the sinners in Sion the hypocrites are afraid what is their feare who shall dwell with everlasting burnings and who shall remaine with consuming fire when they shall see nothing but terrourand wrath in God fire and consumption when they see nothing but such terrible things then feare cōmeth upon them Now marke hypocrites stand altogether unreconciled and therefore it is no marvell if they be afraid and the Saints of God so farre as they are defective in the assurance of Gods love so farre they conceive themselves in the state of Hypocrites and therefore they are so full of feares Againe a second thing that they stand unresolved of is concerning the future estates of their soules and bodies after death they are not sure of this that there is a better condition afterwards this is that great question Whether goe wee I goe now out of the bodie and whither then I goe out of the world and whither then I am going out of the company of men and whither then shall I goe to Angels and Saints or to divels shall I goe to Heaven or to Hell shall I have a beeing or not in miserie or in happinesse They know not what shall become of them they are unresolved of this point of their owne state to come whether they shall be in happinesse or horrour after death and therefore Death is terrible You have the point opened I will answer an objection or two and then come to the use It may be objected It seemeth the servants of God are not kept under the feare of death all those that are in the state of grace have faith faith that spendeth these feares and therefore since they are in the state of beleevers how can they be held under the feare of death To this I answer briefly there is faith in all the children of God that are effectually called but wee must know that Faith is considerable two wayes first as it is in conflict and secondly as it is out of conflict Now the Faith of Gods servants in conflict so sometime it is in conflict with feare and sadnesse of spirit Why art thou cast downe oh my soule why art thou disquieted within me c. Sometime it is in conflict with reason and sense thus the people of Israel when they came into the Wildernesse they looked for nothing but dying and destruction of nature for sense presented it to them therefore saith Moses which is the voyce of Faith Stand still and see the salvation of God c. Now in this conflict the successe is doubtfull sometime as it was betweene Amalek and Israel fighting together Amalek prevailed Israel had the worst sometime Israel preuailed and Amalek had the worst so sometime Faith prevaileth against sense and those fears that arise from sense and somtime again carnal fears and Sense prevaileth against Faith now accordingly are those effects in the hearts of Gods children But secondly sometime Faith is out of conflict it now triumpheth in assurance it is come now to full assurance of Faith as it
crazie body or a full well-fed body is a hindrance to the soule because of that tie that is betweene the body and the soule and the spirit so there is a simpathy the soule is affected some what in this sense But it is not so then the soule shall bee loosed from the body and so freer for spirituall actions then now it is The soules under the Altar they crie How long Lord holy and just wilt thou not revenge our bloud upon them that are upon the earth The soules of Gods servants you see then are glorified when they are out of the body and therefore shall glorifie God more perfectly and enjoy God more freely and fully then now while their soules are in these mortall bodies And at that very instant when the soule of Gods servant is carried out of the body to heaven it more perfectly injoyeth Christ and is more sensible and more fit to answer the love of Christ to him then ever when it was in the body So then here is a cessation of baser actions and imployments to give place to more noble and heavenly and excellent actions wherein the soule shall bee employed in heaven There is then no losse of actions neither Againe there is no losse of company This is a thing that troubleth men husband and wife to part friends to part But we lose no company by death howsoever we lose the company of men that we cannot assure our selves are friends indeed for of all the friends we speake of in the maine point when they come to be tryed there are few to be found to be friends But then we goe to them whose love is perfect that you may be sure of and have the truth of their love Againe how little comfort nay how little have you company with those friends you desire Is not much part of our life spent without any fight of our friends is not halfe of it spent in sleep in the night and the other halfe in businesse and pleasure Alas how little time have we to enjoy our friends we rest on But then we shall perfectly enjoy them when there shall be no need of sleepe when there shall be perfection of love and freedome from distraction and imployment when the servants of God shall fully and freely and sweetly and comfortably enjoy one the other Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and the meanest of the Saints shall meet in the expression of love in such a perfection as we cannot speake of And this is certaine you shall goe to many Who can tell the dust of Iacob Now you have some one or two or three or a few men or women that you account friends and dote much upon but then you shall have ennumerable company a world of friends of men and women multitudes they cannot be numbred they are as the starres of heaven for number I say there is no losse of company by this meanes Againe you shall lose no pleasures by death it may be you shall lose some few sensuall bruitish pleasures a few mixed corrupt pleasures pleasures that have the mixture of sorrow and feare in them that imbitters them to the soule of a man but it shall not be so then you shall be freed from imperfect pleasures and have perfect ones at Gods right hand for evermore pure pleasures Againe you lose no necessary convenience neither the rich man loseth no riches by death he loseth his money doth he lose his riches therefore No The Angels are rich but they have no money the Saints are rich they want nothing but they have no money It may be thou losest a child thou shalt find a Father it may be thou losest a weake friend that loveth not long or it may be not so truly as thou thinkest he doth and thou findest friends that are many and perfect and pure in their love that love with a perfect heart And what then are all those losses when you enjoy that which shall make the soule happy for ever Thus I say you should rectifie your opinions concerning Death looke upon it aright have true apprehensions of it Get an intrest in Christ and looke on death through him get faith and then all these things that I haue spoken shall be your advantage so the Apostle concludeth Christ is to us in life and in death advantage If we live he is gaine to us in life and if we die he is advantage to us in death And death is reckoned amongst the speciall favours and priviledges Christ hath given to his Church All are yours what all life and death things present and things to come all are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods So we see that Death is amongst the priviledges that Christ hath given his Church therefore rectifie your opinions concerning Death make good that I spake before and you shall find this good that I now speake And for the last the unacquaintance with Death let not that trouble you none come from the dead to tell you what is done there but looke on the servants of God before and when they die and you shall find enough how they apprehended Death when they have looked on it in the glasse of the Gospell Looke upon them before death Iacob being to close up his dayes with blessing of his children Lord saith hee I have waited for thy salvation Hee looked upon Death through Christ the Saviour of the world that he should bee saved by him and though it be true that there is a further meaning for the Tribes in those words of Iacob yet this was proper to Iacob himselfe hee looked upon Death now approching as that that he was delivered from and set into that freedome purchased by Christ. So old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seene thy salvation Iacob accounted it his salvation old Simeon a departure from a worse place to a better from worse company and comforts to a better A change for the better still and a departing in peace Againe secondly looke on the servants of God in death see what they have said too Iosiah a man that was upright in heart he went to the grave in peace he was gathered to his fathers in peace that he should not see the evill that should come upon his people here is all it was but a peaceable taking of him away from a more troubelous condition if he had lived longer Beloved he died in warre yet it is said he was gathered in peace he had inward peace with God though he failed in that particular action And the Apostle in the 2 Cor. 5. 4. This is our desire that wee may bee clothed upon not that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortalitie may bee swallowed up of life A strange speech he counteth death life to him he counteth the death of this life to be the death of mortalitie by laying aside this earthly tabernacle as he saith in
what world with the world of ungodly men God hath borne with the world many Ages of yeares many thousand yeares already and yet beareth still with the world The most holy God that perfectly hateth wickednesse yet to shew his Patience he beareth with ungodly ones Yea and he beareth with men too the mighty God that is able to destroy all the world with the very breath of his mouth that as with a word hee made the world so with a blast he is able to bring it to nothing yet this mighty God beareth with men this holy God with ungodly men yea and this God that might suddenly destroy the earth as hee did the old World with water he beareth so many thousand yeares with the world of ungodly men that his Patience and long-suffering may appeare You have God for an example then And Christ for an example too and you are predestinated for this very end to be like the Image of the Sonne to be made conformable unto Christ Wherein In all imitable and necessary graces I say in all those graces that are necessary by vertue of a rule and that are imitable wherein we may or can follow him Amongst the rest this is one his Patience See the Patience of Christ. In his carriage toward his Father how he bore the displeasure of his Father In his carriage toward men when hee might have commanded fire from heaven yet you see how hee bore with them and rebuked his Disciples You know not of what spirit you are Hee was lead as a Lambe dumbe before the shearers and hee opened not his mouth Againe you have the examples of the servants of God Take my brethren saith Saint Iames the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an ensample of suffering affliction and of Patience The Prophets suffered long and endured the frownes of the world and the rage of Princes they endured a thousand miseries and all to discharge their duty But amongst all the servants of God You have heard of the Patience of Iob and what end the Lord made with him Every man can speake of the patience of Iob but this was written for our ensample to teach us to be patient as hee was Whatsoever things were written afore-time were written for our learnings that wee through Patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Againe secondly as it is necessary for a Christian to strive for the perfection of Patience in the degrees of it because of the conformitie that should be betweene him and those examples of God of Christ and of the Saints betweene God the Father and beleevers his children betweene Christ the head and beleevers his members betweene the Saints of God children of the same Father and servants of the same Master that should honour him in the same grace of Patience So there is a necessitie likewise of it in respect of the tryals whereunto a Christian may be put you had need to strive that you may be perfect in Patience because you know not what tryals yee shall be put to what times yee are reserved to Every man must expect troubles and afflictions they are called Tribulations and you know what Tribulum was the Iron ball that was full of pikes round about so that wheresoever it was cast it did sticke an Engine used in warre Tribulations are unavoydable they will fall and sticke yee cannot escape them on any side by any turning to the right hand or to the left It is the will of God that through many tribulations wee should enter into the kingdome of heaven and whosoever will live Godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution Now beloved is this so that this is a Statute in heaven decreed and ordained by God and will not be reversed like the lawes of the Medes and Persians that every man must passe to heaven through tribulation and affliction upon earth then it concernes every one to be armed to get such a measure of patience as may support him in such afflictions Yee know not what afflictions yee may have what particular tryals God may put yee to In what a miserable case then is a man if he be to seeke of his armour when he is in the middest of the pikes if he be then to get patience when he is in the middest of tryals when he is disturbed and distracted with vexation of spirit What foolish disorderly speeches proceed from men in the time of affliction We may see it in David so foolish was I and ignorant and in this point a beast before thee What foolish sensuall beastly speeches unreasonable absurd passages proceed from men in those times of trouble if they have not got to themselves before hand this grace and are not fitted to a Christian caraiage in time by patience Thus yee see the necessitie of patience to the perfection of a Christian and the necessitie of the perfection of patience to the ornament of a Christian. Now we come to make use of both these together First it serveth for the just reproofe of Christians that are carefull for other parts and acts of religion and are not so seriously mindfull of this duty of Patience as they should be but are so farre from striving for patience that they seeme rather to strive for impatience that make their crosses more heavy and their afflictions more bitter then they would be Indeed we make Gods Cuppe that of it selfe is grievous enough to nature and to sense by putting into it our owne ingredients that are inbred in our owne passions and pride and selfe-will and our owne earthly mindes farre more bitter then else it would be But how doth a man make afflictions worse There are divers wayes that men take wherein they are so farre from perfecting patience in themselves that they wholly destroy patience The first is by their agravating of their afflictions by all the severall circumstances that possibly they can invent All their eloquence is used in expressing the grievousnesse of that crosse and affliction that is upon them They that in the times of mercy could scarse ever drop a word in thankfulnesse and acknowledgement of Gods goodnesse to them now they can poure out flouds of sentences in expression of Gods bitter and heavie dealing with them in such afflictions and crosses and distresses that befall them As the Church speakes in the Lamentations Consider all that passe by is there any Affliction like my affliction wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me The like speech you have ordinarily in the mouthes of persons Is there any affliction like mine there is no body so wronged in their name as I nor hath such paine in their body nor never went with such a heavy heart as I never any man suffered so many injuries by friends and enemies and all sorts of people as I have done as if all the afflictions in the world the flouds and waves of tryals were
an enemie that it doth not cease till it hath dragged the soule into the presence of God and after from his Tribunall to the torment of eternall fire in Hell That succeedeth death for naturally of its owne nature it tendeth to the destruction of man because it is a fruit of sinne and therefore must needs be the perdition and overthrow of the soule For sinne bringeth destruction in regard it makes God angrie with us and separateth from him and by consequence from all manner of comfort and in regard it separateth from him it bringeth all manner of ill his wrath his hatred and ill will the greatest of all Death I say properly and of it selfe intendeth and seekes to draw all those that it layes hold on to a state of everlasting unhappinesse therefore it is an enemie So you see the second point opened The third is that Death is the last enemie after which there shall bee no more But I must tell you to whom it is the last not to all For there are a generation of men that shall feele death to be the least of enemies and in a manner the first But to the Saints and those that are prepared for death and those that will use the remedie to these and these alone death is the last enemie after once they have grappled and fought and encountred with this enemie they are at peace and rest as he saith Happy are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours There is no more toyle and miserie to a good man after death And why Because death seperateth sin from his soule as well as the soule from the body and so taking away the cause of unrest it must needs take away miserie and unhappinesse it selfe Indeed properly Death doth it not but the Lord Iesus Christ by death For it pleaseth him when his servants leave this world then they are fit to enter into a place of happinesse in another world which they could not be except they were freed from sin Death is the daughter of sinne and with a happy patricide as it were at once it destroyeth it selfe and sin and therfore it takes away all misery because it takes away all sinne Therefore it is the last enemie because it killeth the worst of our enemies for when we are dead there shall be no more enmitie betweene God and us and so no more enemy This is the third point The last is that this enemie shall bee destroyed A thing is destroyed abolished when it selfe ceaseth to be and is tooke out of the way and when all the ill effects that it would produce and effect or hath are removed So the Lord Jesus Christ abolisheth Death he destroyeth it that it shall never againe be knowne in the world or felt by his servants and he preventeth all those evill effects that it would worke in the soule for eternitie and removeth all the ill effects of it that it hath wrought on their bodies for the present time Death takes away a mans goods for the present Christ abolisheth that he giveth everlasting substance in heaven Death takes away friends Christ abolisheth that hee sends us to heaven where we have more friends and better Death brings the body to rottennesse and corruption it laieth it in the dust turnes it to putrifaction Christ abolisheth that at the Resurrection it shall rise againe in glory How that is done the Apostle tells us in the end of this chapter The body shall be laid in the dust a weake and feeble a mortall and naturall body but it shall bee clothed with immortalitie This mortall shall put on immortalitie this corruptible shall put on incorruption then shall bee fulfilled that saying Death is swallowed up in victorie But this is also limited it shall bee destroyed to whom To those that use the remedie those that partake of Christ those that have put on him that is the Resurrection and the life Thus I have laid before your eyes briefly these foure things that the Apostle leadeth us to treate of concerning death That it is That it is an enemie That it is the last enemie And that it shall be destroyed Now I desire to apply this and to make use of it First I shall be bold to play the Examiner to search each conscience a little Brethren let the word of God enter into your soules Yee heare that there is a death and that this death is a sore and bitter enemie and yee heare that to some sort of men it is the last enemie that ever they shall encounter with and bee freed from all the hurt of it it shall be utterly destroyed Now doe so much as discend every one into himselfe and inquire what care there hath beene to prepare for death to make use of the remedie against death what time and paines hath beene bestowed to seeke to get that that is the only meanes to escape the Dart of this enemie and that that is the only cause to procure this enfranchisement to the soule from that that else will destroy all A man hath not fitted himselfe to encounter with his enemie when hee lookes after wealth and followeth the pleasures and contentments of this life these things will doe no good they will be rather a burthen to the heart and vexe the soule and increase the mischiefe laying more sin upon the soule and giving death darts to pierce the soule with But when is a man fit for death and who may encounter with this enemie with safetie I will tell yee That man that takes the greatest care to disarme death of his weapons to arme himselfe with defensive weapons against death If an enemie come upon a man with good weapons in his hand and find him altogether unweaponed it is hard for a naked unarmed man to deale with him it is hard for a man that never thought of it before to fight with one that is skilfull at his weapons Death I told yee is an enemie and an enemie that is skilfull in his weapons and the weapon of death it is our owne sinne Death bringeth nothing with it to hurt a man It findeth with us and in us that whereby to hurt us So many corruptions as are in thy heart so many weapons So many idle words so many bad deedes so many swords to pierce thy heart Death maketh use of those weapons it findeth in our selves and with them hee destroyeth and killeth and brings us to perdition Now what have yee done beloved to disarme death what care have yee taken to breake sinne apieces that it may not be as a sword ready drawne for the hand of death when it commeth as Arrowes in a Bow to shoot at you when Death laieth hold on you That man that hath tooke no care to overcome sinne in the power of it and to get himselfe free from the guilt and punishment of it is unfit for death If death come upon him and find his offences
had removed the obstacles that then he would poure his wrath upon them Secondly there is another extent of the Word that is of the subject of the person No man It argueth the neglect to be generall A man would have thought that upon the mention of the first word Mercifull men are taken away the mourners should goe about in the streets the poore Orphans should weepe because they have lost a Patron No such matter no consideration on no hand that is a wonder had the mercifull man no wife no children no friend to mourne after him when he was buried in the earth was there no well-willers to him that had benefit by his pietie to mourne for the righteous man was there none like to himselfe one righteous man will mourne for another What is this then No man If they would not regard the pietie of the godly man or mercifull when he lived me thinkes when hee died there should be some consideration A Mountaine as long as it standeth men take no great notice of it but if fall all eyes looke upon it The Sunne when he is in his strength there are few eyes that looke on it but if it come to an ecclipse every man getteth into his Turret Generally men delight to looke upon those Starres that in their opinion they thinke are fallen All these the godly man is Hee shineth as a starre here as the Sunne in his strength after he is as a Mountaine as a Beacon upon a Mountaine more glorious The Mountaine and the starre falleth 〈◊〉 Sunne is in the Ecclipse Mercifull men are taken away and no man considereth it I will not say it is to be taken in the full extent it implieth not a nullitie but a paucitie As in that place in the Psalme There is none that doth good no not one The Prophet doth not implie that there was not one godly man at all but so few that they could hardly be numbred a great paucitie So here No man considereth that is those that considered were so very few that there was hardly notice taken of them they were hardly in the compasse of a Number Nay it is twice noted No man no man to shew it was almost a nullitie there is not any not any that is they were exceeding few What is the reason Because they were not acquainted with the rule and way of pietie therefore they mourned not If pietie were within it would simpathize without as there is like rejoycing so they would sorrow together Wee are not to thinke but they had naturall affection though it were almost cut off it is likely if any of their kinne were tooke away they would mourne If a Father or Mother were taken away the most impenitent man would have teares though not for sin yet for losses and crosses then there are those that would crie with Elisha My father my father the Chariots of Israel c. If a brother or a sister were taken away I doubt not but there are those that would follow with the voyce of lamentation Alas my brother alas my sister woe is mee for my brother Ionathan Wee have teares for brethren Further if it were but a child that were lost a man would be sure to find teares for them and sigh a long time after and would say with David Oh Absalom my son my son would God I had died for thee my son All conditions that live find teares in mens eyes and consideration of their departure only the godly and the righteous man findeth none Here is their stupiditie Can there be a greater stupiditie then to make a man die twice as they die the death of their bodies so to make them suffer a death in our memories as they perish to the world so to perish also in our thoughts and meditations We owe God so much we owe pietie so much we owe the memoriall of many so much we owe our selves so much as to take it into consideration And yet no man considereth This is the fault which we may examine our selves of For if we now make reflection of all this upon our selves we shall find a conformitie with out times There is never a word of this Scripture but it is true now I will not take the parts in order First wee cannot denie that evill is to come upon this place Nay it were well if it were to come it is come already it hath overtaken us If we load the earth with the evill of sinne it is impossible that God should forbeare long The evill of sinne that surchargeth the earth must be unloaden againe by this burthen by the burthen of punishment one burthen must justle out another Evils there have beene impendant that we have seene Evils there are now present that we begin to groane under and no man can tell where that evill will stay There is evill present and evils to come because our evils are still multiplying the beginnings of sorrowes and sufferings and feares God grant it may stay But our state and condition is like them in this that they are yet impendant We see the heavens growne blacke judgements are a ripening When yee see the skie red when yee see the skie blacke judgement is beginning not only beginning to bud but it beginneth to spread and inlarge it selfe Thus farre there is a correspondencie There is evill that we have cause to feare and suspect yet further to come on this place Secondly there is a conformitie with the other too in our negligence The world sendeth forth men now voide of naturall affection It was never so before For if before they neglected others yet they were carefull of themselves But men now desperatly neglect their owne salvations There is no respect to God no pitty of others no not of themselves I doe not wonder that men heretofore considered not when they loved their lives better then their sinnes because they had some sensible taste of that that was temporall when they loved their lives better then heaven But now men love not their lives best but their sinnes better for though their lives bee in danger yet their sins are kept It is an admirable thing to consider how every way we are given to plentie to ryot to securitie notwithstanding God commeth neere and bringeth his judgement even to the dore and makes it swell He forbeareth a long time to trie us with mercies and then he takes a severe course Where shal men see the face of an alteration our lives are the same our delights the same our vanities and follies the same we keepe the same sins still as if we were bent to provoke God further to see what he will doe That is an evident signe we consider not for what purpose God sendeth his plagues we consider not what he doth when he takes away others for our example none lay it to heart and take it into consideration it swimmeth not in his braine We begin to tremble and we thinke our selves well if we
place Though thou shouldest have a wife that thou shouldest love mightily though thou shouldest have pleasures that thou takest full content in Why doest thou so Wee are ready to strike sayle wee have but a little time to continue So that because all the blessings of this life let them be never so many never so great yet they all die with us when our time is ended hee that could but seriously thinke that hee hath but a little time to continue below hee will never let his heart be set violently upon them that is the first Argument The second and principall Reason why the meditation of the shortnesse of our time should bee such a marvellous meanes to take us off from all the things of the world is this Because wee shall find worke enough in this short time for things that more concerne us Now the very nature of our soule that God hath put into us is this that a man cannot intend earnestly and violently two things at the same time Let a man for a certaine houre wholly bee tooke up with some businesse though there were a great many other things that he could find in his heart to thinke upon yet the soule intends that one mainly and can find no time for the other Thus is our case Wee have but a little time but in that little time admirable is the worke wee have to doe before this time be spent if wee would give a comfortable account What have we to doe I tell you in a word The maine and needfull thing of all that wee have to doe in this little time here allotted us is How to shoote the gulph of hell how to make our peace with God how to get his favour in Christ how to have the corruptions of our soule cured and healed how to grow up in grace and to get sure evidence against that day when all shall stand naked before him that then we may be found in Christ. Have I ever heard that I have a great worke to doe and that I have but a little time to doe it in Surely then if I seriously thinke of it I cannot find in my heart to let my soule pitch earnestly upon the things below Beloved our time here is the only time we have to make heaven sure It is the most precious thing that ever we have in the world Now if a man have such a precious thing and but a little of it will hee goe and spend it for toyes and baubles It is a thing that the Emperour Caligula is laughed at for in all Stories There was a mighty Navie provided admirable and strange and all trimmed and every one expected that with it the whole countrey of Greece should be conquered and so it might have beene But hee imploped his souldiers to gather a company of Cockleshells and pibles and so sayled home Had not every one cause to lavgh at the folly of this Emperour Verely such a foole is every man and so wee would acknowledge if wee would but weigh this God hath given thee but thus much time it may be twenty yeares it may be but a day or two more in this time he hath furnished thee with that which may bee a meanes to conquer heaven it selfe now if thou lay out this little about wife or children or to purchase a little wealth or these things here below is it not the greatest folly that may bee Suppose that a servant hath a great deale of worke to doe and knowes that he must give an account to his Master thereof and that if all be not done that should bee done he can never appeare with comfort before his Master and hee sees also that the Sunne drawes low and the day hastneth to an end doe you thinke that this servant can find time to play If a man have much to write and but a little paper to write in he must write small and thicke and close as ever hee can So it is with every one of us I warrant you there is not any soule of us but wee shall find so many thousand things to repent of so many graces to obtaine that wee stand in need of so many evidences for heaven to get that yet we have not got sealed so many particulars concerning a better life that a man may wonder that ever any one should find one halfe day to intend any thing else Thus you see the reasons why the serious meditation of the little time we have to continue below should bee a marvellous meanes to take us off from the world and to put us upon the studie and thought of better things Well now let me briefly apply this unto you that so I may come to that I principally intend Oh that we had learned this excellent lesson that the Apostle teacheth the Corinths here what wondrous happy people should wee be You shall find ever-more in the Scripture the Spirit of God putting the neglect that is amongst men and carelesnesse of heaven and all the wickednesse of their lives upon this the not serious meditation of that small time they have to continue below If a man come to those that are not brethren as Saint Paul bespeakes the Corinths in the Text they will say It is true it is a good point to be prest upon a man that is in a consumption on one whom the Doctours have given over to tell him that hee cannot continue a weeke that his time is short But for our parts wee are but in the beginning of our voyage it may be wee are but twenty yeares old we began but the other day to be furnished with a stocke wee we are but newly entred and doe you thinke that we are striking sayle Or another that hath lived fortie or fiftie yeares in the middest of a full trade that beginneth to get something in the world doe you thinke that he is striking sayle Thus people put it off Alas what is thy time What is all thy life Let God decide it doth not he say it is a vapour a dreame a tale that is told like a Ship that sayleth by and is gone and that in the turning of a hand almost If thou have no more time of life here but only while a little sand is running out of a glasse while a Ship is sayling out of sight while a short tale is told God saith it is no more wilt thou account that thy voyage is yet scarsly begun I beseech you beloved all goe home and often thinke of this point Say within yourselves How long Lord am I like to continue below and what is there for me to doe before I goe out of this world But the truth is men dare not thinke of this and the divell laboureth for nothing more in the world then this to make men put off the serious consideration of the brevitie of their lives and that they have longertime to continue here then they have because hee knowes the truth of this
shee cannot want eithera sweet memoriall of her vertues in the booke of God or a stately Monument in the Church and in your hearts too Happily some may scoffe and some may doubt as though this commendation flew too high or out of sight To whom I shall briefly answer both For the former It is reported of two great Tragedians learned and famous in their time Sophocles and Euripides Euripides presented upon the Scaene all naughty women and Sophocles presented all vertuous women and the ordinary observation of the wits of the times was as men are apt to bee vainly witted in these things they thought that Euripides that presented them bad presented women as they were and Sophocles that presented them good presented them as they should bee If I had nothing else to say to the scoffes of any but only this I suppose it would be sufficient I doe beleeve fully that I have presented her as she was but howsoever you can take no hurt if you doe but consider that it is spoken as what you should be I am sure and I know I have presented what you should be And for any that shall doubt yet that it may seeme too high I would desire them only to consider this I describe in the Text the very temper and character of one that is truly godly such as I conceive her to have beene and the truth is there is none that is truly godly but in some degree or measure must attaine and doe attaine to participate in a conformitie with this Character and therefore I have neither done you as I conceive any wrong and yet done her right too And to draw to an end She hath left this honour behind her that she lived beloved and died desired And who is there here almost that suffereth not a losse in her Her Husband hath lost a loving wife that honoured him highly Her children have lost a loving Mother that loved them tenderly that tendered them duly Her servants have lost a loving Mistris that governed them gently and was every way beneficiall to them Her Brothers and Sisters have lost a loving Sister that answered them in their loves sweetly Her Neighbours have lost a loving neigbour full of courtesie to the rich full of charitie to the poore And my selfe have lost I hope there is none here so weake to suspect that I blast the living to blazon the praise of the dead or that I doe robbe or strippe the living to cloath the dead with their spoyles but I thinke I may truly say I have lost as truly and cordially a loving friend as any shee hath left bebehind though I esteeme many her Peeres and I cannot complaine of any But to end all Her gaine in Christ countervaileth and sweetneth all our losses Shee was a disciple of Love shee loved her Lord and loved all his Saints and servants and therefore I doubt not that she was a beloved disciple and resteth in the bosome of her Love where not to disquiet her happinesse and detaine your patience any longer I shall leave her in that blessed place and commend you to the blessing of God FINIS THE EXPECTATION OF CHRISTS COMMING OR A MOTIVE TO A GODLY CONVERSATION 2 THESSAL 4. 16. For the Lord himselfe shall descend from heaven c. 2 PET. 3. 14. Wherefore beloved seeing that yee looke for such things be diligent that yee may bee found of him in peace without spot and blamelesse LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE EXPECTATION OF CHRISTS COMMING OR A MOTIVE TO A HOLY CONVERSATION SERMON XVI PHIL. 3. 20 21. For our conversation is in heaven from whence wee looke for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himselfe IN the seventh verse of this Chapter the blessed Apostle Saint Paul exhorteth the Philippians to bee followers together of him and to marke them which walke so as they had him for an ensample And that hee might the better direct them in the dutie the imitation of his ensample he sheweth that there is a great difference betweene others that pretended themselves to be the Apostles of Christ and indeed were not and himselfe Many saith he walke of whom I have told you often and now tell you weeping that they are the enemies of the crosse of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is their shame who mind earthly things These ensamples he would have them to avoide follow not such but be yee followers of us for our conversation is in heaven from whence we looke for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ c. and follow those which walke so as yee have us for an ensample This is the example he would have them imitate In the words you have these things considerable First What the conversation of these men was whom the Apostle would have the Philipians to follow Their conversation was a heavenly conversation Our conversation is in heaven Secondly the reason or incouragement that they had to this imitation to walke so heavenly while they were on earth because from thence we looke for a Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ. Thirdly the benefit by that Saviour whom they looke for from heaven Hee shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body Fourthly the meanes by which this great worke shall bee effected According to the working whereby hee is able to subdue all things unto himselfe For the first to touch it only in a word there is from that these two Observations clearely arising First That there is a heavenly conversation of the Saints on earth Secondly That while they are on earth they are now stated in heaven Our conversation is in heaven Hee saith not only it shall bee in heaven though there it shall be perfected but it is now in heaven in regard of our present state and possession Concerning the first that the Saints on earth have a heavenly conversation You must know that the word here Politeuma translated conversation signifieth such a course of life and of traffique as is in Cities and Corporations where many are knit and united together in one common societie in one common freedome Our conversation is in heaven that is we have a kind of heavenly traffique a heavenly trade while we are upon earth There are divers things wherein there is an agreement between the cariages and conditions of men in Cities and Societies here on earth and this of the Saints of God that have their conversations in heaven I will only in briefe run them over this being not the thing that I purposely ayme at First in Cities and Corporations there is a Register wherein the names of the Freemen are inrolled So in heaven also there is a Register a certaine booke
of the same body there is a gathering under one Head as the Apostle calleth it under Christ they are the superiour members wee the inferiour all joyned under one common Head Lastly the Saints on earth have interest one in another by vertue of this communion they have interest in the prayers in the gifts in the wealth one of another so farre as necessitie and love requireth Fifthly and lastly as in earthly Cities and Corporations there is trading and traffiquing buying and selling c. So here this heavenly conversation consisteth in a kind of heavenly traffique as the word importeth Wee either are all or should be all heavenly merchants even here upon earth The kingdome of heaven is compared to a treasure hid in a field which when a man findeth hee hideth it and for joy departeth and selleth all that hee hath and buyeth that field It is compared to a Pearle which when a man discrieth the excellencie of it he giveth all that hee hath to possesse that Pearle There is a heavenly thing that is worth all that wee can give and it must be bought too It is our Saviours counsell Come buy of mee yea come buy wine and milke without money without price It must be bought but bought without money there is nothing that is subject to corruption that can buy heavenly things Buy of me eye-salve that you may see and gold that you may be made rich and garments that your nakednesse may not appeare This must be bought but what must we give for it Christ tells us hee saith that hee himselfe is the Pearle the treasure and that which we must give for him is no more but this Let a man deny himselfe and take up his crosse and then follow him He must deny his worldly pleasures his carnall affections the love of his lusts he must renounce his sins If thy right hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee if thy right eye offend thee plucke it out and cast it from thee What is that that a man should dismember himselfe No such matter What then To doe that which a man accounteth as harsh a peece of worke as to plucke out his eye or cut off his hand that is to mortifie his carnall affections to part with his sweetest lusts which a man holdeth as deare and sets as high a rate upon as on his right hand or his right eye there should be no sinne so precious no gaine so sweet no pleasure so delightfull but a man should be willing to let it for Christ there should be no worldly thing whatsoever that a man should so set his heart upon but if persecution for the Gospell should come he should be contented to leave it for Christ and in the meane space to let his affections hang loose to it that whensoever Christ shall call him to part with his estate with his contentments with himselfe he may let all fall for his sake and the Gospels This is the heavenly traffique of a Christian. I might here lay downe some tryals by which men may bee able to judge of themselves in this particular whether their conversation bee in heaven I will instance but in some generalls because I hasten to that I principally intend See how thy affectionstand such as is a mans mind such is the man such as is a mans affection such is his conversation a heavenly affection argueth a heavenly conversation a heavenly conversation presupposeth a heavenly affection for it is impossible for any man to walke in a heavenly course but he that is of a heavenly mind It sheweth the errour of those men that thinke that that pitch of holinesse and carefull walking with God in newnesse of life is too strict a point to bee pressed what say they will you have us to be Saints are wee not men shall wee not have infirmities still Yes that thou wilt when thou hast done what thou canst But here is the thing What is the bent of thy heart what is the strength of thy mind what is the endeavour of thy wholeman which way are thy affections carried What dost thou mourne for most what dost thou rejoyce in most what dost thou hope for most According to thy affections so will thy labour and endeavourbe A heavenly heart sorroweth most for sinne a heavenly affection rejoyceth most in Christ Many say who will shew us any good but Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us thou hast given me more joy of heart then they had when their corne and wine and oyle abounded A heavenly affection hopeth most for heaven and that not so much that thereby hee may be released from worldly troubles as that he may be possessed of those heavenly joyes that are to be had in the presence of God and in a perfect communion with him that he may be freed from sinne and fully brought into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God And this is that which stirreth him up with all industry and endeavour and carrieth him along mainly and chiefly to seeke after not the wealth and honour and pleasure of the world but how he may get into the Covenant of grace and an interest in Christ how he may attaine evidences of heaven and testimonies of the love of God He speakes of heaven as the worldly man speakes of the world A worldly man speakes of the world and the world heareth him saith Christ every table ringeth of his worldly talke every company soundeth of his worldly affections in every meeting he sheweth his worldly disposition So a heavenly-minded man is alwayes talking of heavenly things alwayes labouring to draw heavenly uses out of earthly things let crosses come he can draw comforts from thence he makes them meanes to take off his heart from the world to set it more toward heaven as Noahs Arke the more the waters increased the neerer it was raised to heaven so a heavenly man the more worldly crosses come the higher his soule riseth toward heaven the worldly man sinketh under afflictions but he is lifted up neerer to Christ. This is a heavenly conversation But I will not stand on this The second thing which I told you was observable from the first part of the Text was this That in this very life the children of God are stated in a heavenly condition Our conversation is now in heaven saith the Apostle When a man is brought by repentance and faith unto Christ he is brought into a heavenly state actually possessed of heaven And that in two respects In respect of right and title In respect of possession First in respect of right and title and that also first in respect of Election God hath elected them to it Secondly in respect of vocation they are begotten againe to a lively hope They have now the Word which giveth them a promise of heaven They have now the spirit which is the seale of their inheritance
the Doctrine of repentance because the kingdome of God was at hand This is that upon which Saint Peter groundeth his exhortation unto the people Acts 3. 18. Repent saith he and bee converted that your sinnes may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Therefore repent and returne unto God doe away your sinnes because there will a time of refreshing come and you had need then to be found in another hue in another state then in your old rotten withered condition and sinfull lusts This is the Argument that the Apostle used to the Athenians to bring them from Idolatrie to serve the living God because God hath appointed to judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained Even for that reason because God hath appointed a time to judge the world in righteousnesse therefore they should turne from their Idols to serve the living God There is nothing that doth so unbottome the heart nothing so shakes and looseneth a mans hold of sinne and unrighteousnesse as the consideration of Christs comming to Judgement What will it boote me will the soule reason to keep my sins when Christ will come to judge me for my sins What shall I get by going on in a course of a sinne when I can looke for nothing then but a sentence of wrath to be denounced against me This then is that that doth settle a man in a holy conversation in that respect Nay fourthly this is that also which quickneth a man to the practise of all holy duties in his place both in his generall and particular Calling It is the very argument which the Apostle Saint Peter useth to stirre us up to holinesse of conversation Seeing saith he that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought wee to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse looking for the comming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heate As if hee should have said Looke now about the whole world and see what it is that now can comfort you if you be such as goe on in a course of sinne It may be you will say I feare not much for I have many friends Yea but all these shall die It may bee thou hast store of lands but all that shall bee burnt with fire It may be thou hast many pleasures but then there shall bee nothing but Judgement The comming of the Lord that shall then put an end to all these and turne the course of things the expectation thereof is a speciall meanes to take us off from a course of sinne and put us on to a course of obedience to make us walke in another kind of fashion while wee are in the world Therefore the Apostle Saint Paul when he would stirre up Timothy to the worke of the Ministrie what is the Argument that hee useth I charge thee before Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead As if hee should say there shall be an appearing before the Lord and therefore if thou wilt give thy account up with joy at that day I charge thee to looke to thy Ministrie So may I say to every man in his place I charge thee that art a Master of a Familie looke to the businesse of thy Familie to the salvation of the soules of thy people I charge thee that art a Father or a Mother to looke to the salvation of the soules of thy Children I charge thee that art a Christian to looke to the salvation of thy owne soule And how is the charge I charge thee before the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and dead Because there shall come a time when both thou and they shall bee present before Christ at his appearing therefore if thou wilt have comfort in them and in thy selfe and in Christ be carefull to doe the dutie that concernes thy place looking for the comming of the Lord Iesus So then you see in this respect also thereis nothing so forcible an Argument to settle a man in a holy conversation in a heavenly course as this for a man alwayes to looke for the second comming of Christ. Lastly there is nothing fixeth a man so constantly in a holy course as this Our conversation saith the Apostle is alwayes in heaven Wee alwayes walke on earth as those that aspire to heaven because wee alwayes looke for the comming of Christ. Wert thou carefull to serve God yesterday doe it to day also it may be Christ may come now and take thee away by death to day and there is no preparation for judgement afterward Little children saith Saint Iohn now abide in him that when hee shall appeare wee may have confidence and not bee ashamed before him at his comming What is it that giveth a man boldnesse and takes away shame from him at the comming of Christ What is the reason that a man hath not that spirit of feare and trembling upon him that shall bee upon the hearts of all those that goe on in sinne when they shall cry to the mountaines to fall upon them but this that hee hath continued in a holy conversation and constantly walked before the Lord with an upright heart I have finished my course saith the Apostle I have fought a good fight I have kept the faith hence-forth is layd up for mee a crowne of righteousnesse which Christ the righteous Iudge shall give to mee and to all them that love his appearing Still the servants of God have incouraged themselves to persevere in a holy course from the expectation of the comming of Christ that will give them a reward for their constancie in his service It is the Argument that the holy Ghost useth to the Church of Philadelphia Rev. 3. 11. Hold fast that thou hast and let no man take thy crowne As if hee should say There is a time comming when Crownes shall bee given but to whom to those that hold out that persevere in a godly course Be thou faithfull to the death and thou shalt receive a crowne of glory This is that I say that will make a man goe on will make him that is good in youth be good in age also because whensoever he dieth he shall receive his Crowne This will make a man that he shall not begin in the spirit and end in the flesh this will make him that having put his hand to the plough hee will not looke backe because hee no further lookes for comfort in the appearance of Christ then hee hath had care to walke on constantly in a good course Thus you see the point proved to you that a Christian soule hath a maine benefit by his looking for the second comming of Christ and that this is it that makes him carefull to mortifie his secret lusts that this is it that makes him carefull to purge himselfe from worldly affections that
in their jollity and merriment they never thinke of God or dreame of the world to come Nay the serious apprehension of God Almighty would quench their joy and make it altogether put out Secondly the carnalnesse of the joy of young men appeareth because they rejoyce where they ought not in riot in drunkennesse in surfeiting in voluptuousnesse many times in obscenity of words and phrases in making jeasts of the word of God in deriding their superiours behind their backes As Solomon saith of laughter thou art madde so wee may say of this merriment it is madde merriment hee is a madde man that rejoyceth in that for which except he betake himselfe to serious and bitter mourning hee cannot be saved Thirdly the inordinatnesse of the joy of young men may appeare in this because they rejoyce excessively in lawfull things for any joy when it is inordinate and excessive it is carnall It is lawfull to rejoyce in recreations a whetting is no letting as the Proverbe goeth But for a man to let out himselfe to the hinderance of the service of God to the disturbance of his duty to men it is unlawfull It is lawfull to delight in the blessings and comforts of God that hee affordeth us wee reade of the Joy of harvest in Isa. 9. But for a man to delight in the gifts of God more then in the giver it is unlawfull Now if young men examine themselves they shall find their hearts mount not up to God in their joy and jollity and that they are excessive in the joy of the creature but altogether cold without joy of the Creatour Fourthly the carnalnesse of the Joy of young men may well appeare in this because they terminate and conclude not their joy in God This followeth on the former for it is impossible that what beginneth not in God should end in God Now when Joy beginneth in sinne it cannot end in God but in the Divell Secondly let young men take notice of themselves how they walke after their owne hearts The heart that sayes Come put away pensive thoughts trouble not your selfe about the day of reckoning and Judgement enjoy the time present what need this strictnesse of conversation zeale is but rashnesse there is no need of it take thy fill of pleasures thou hast goods laid up for many yeares Thus they judge and thus they walke after their carnall heart This heart is as no heart as wee reade of Ephraim in Hosea 7. Hee was a silly dove that had no heart Certainly the heart that doth not guide men in the right way and direct men to the feare of God it is no heart For as the eye that will not lead us in the right way that performes not its office is no eye so the heart that leadeth not men to God and to goodnesse it is like the heart of Ephraim it is as no heart Againe in the third place Let young men take notice of themselves how they walke after the sight of their eyes That is they stand gazing on things temporall and neglect things eternall they see a beautie and lustre in these outward things and perceive no glory and brightnesse in Christ Jesus and in his precious ordinances Beloved if we follow our owne heart and our owne eyes it will be thus We should rather labour with Iob to make a covenant with our eyes Oh how few young men are there that make a bargaine and agreement with their eyes that they shall not bee as open Casements to let sinne into the soule Oh how few young men are there that like Ieremy have their eyes as fountaines of water to weepe day and night for the afflictions of the people of God Oh how few young men are there that with Moses have an eye to the recompence of reward that they may suffer affliction with the people of God rather then to enjoy the pleasures of sinne for a season Now I beseech you take a survey of your selves in these things These are the vices and sinnes and deformities of young men to be seene and lamented by all those that hope to dwell in Gods holy Hill The second use of this point is for exhortation to young men they should labour to be reformed in their affections and hearts And away away with this carnall joy wee ought to cast it out of us Carnall Joy will you know what the event of it will bee It will end in carnall sorrow and without repentance in hell it selfe Woe unto you saith our Saviour Christ that laugh now you shall weepe and mourne The triumphing of the wicked saith Zophar in Iob is short and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment though his excellencie mount upto the heavens and his head reach unto the clouds yet hee shall perish as his owne dung they which have seene him shall say where is hee Hee shall fall away as a dreame and shall not bee found yea hee shall bee chased away as a vision of the night But not to give you this only in precept but also to shew you how to reforme your selves in these vices that Solomon specifieth to beare sway in young men let mee lay you downe these few directions First you must betake your selves to mourning for your sins as Saint Iames saith Bee afflicted and weepe and mourne let your laughter bee turned into heavinesse If we be not reconciled to God if we have not assurance that we are interested in Christ there is no time for us to rejoyce wee should rather betake our selves to bitter mourning for the wrath of God is due unto us and wee know not how soone it may fall upon us In the second place Consider how vaine all things are in which youthfull persons rejoyce If young men rejoyce in humane wisedome and understanding this is a vaine thing For first it is gotten with a great deale of trouble and vexation of spirit so saith Solomon Eccl. 1. 13. I gave my heart to seeke and search out by wisedome concerning all things that are done under heaven this sore travell hath God given to the sonnes of men to bee exercised therewith And verse 18. in much wisedome is much griefe and hee that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow God doth so punish the pride and boldnesse of the wit of men even from the fall of our first Parents Secondly this humane wisedome it must needs be a vaine thing for Eccles. 1. 15. that which is crooked cannot bee made straight and that which is wanting cannot bee numbred by humane wisedome The meaning is this that the naturall wisedome of man cannot supply the defects of nature which are innumerable much lesse can it furnish the soule with grace or salvation Thirdly it is but vexation of spirit Solomon though he had gotten wisedome and understanding and had experience more then all the Kings of Hierusalem that were before him yet saith he Behold this is
joy is the good things promised us And those may be reduced to two heads God hath made promises either in regard of evill things as wee call them of afflictions that befall us Or the weaknesse of the graces that are in us Now in the evill of Affliction wee may rejoyce first In the promise of protection in affliction 2. In the promise of Edification by affliction 3. In the promise of deliverance from affliction All in the best season Againe for the defects of grace in us which indeed is a thing exceeding grievous to a true Christian. Here wee may rejoyce First In the promise of preserving of grace 2. In the promise of augmentation and growth in grace 3. In the promise of bringing the weastest grace to perfection Here you have the well-head of Joy Oh that young men would know God and Christ Jesus and the word of God and the promises that they might leave this sinfull and sottish joy whereto they are so adicted This is the meanes to bee rid of it by getting into their soules the sense and feeling of the true Joy of the children of God Againe in the second place Young men should bee exhorted not to walke after their owne heart which is the next thing that Solomon noteth as a fault in them The heart saith Ieremy is deceitfull above measure and desperately wicked It is so deceitfull sucha Cheator that we are not able to comprehend it it is desperatly wicked Who will follow a false guide and a desperate wicked guide so is the heart of man Lastly they should not walke after the sight of their eyes David prayed Turne away mine eyes that I regard not vanity and quicken mee in thy Law And againe Open mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law There is much danger in following our eyes Eve was misled by her eye shee looked upon the forbidden fruit and saw it beautifull and so lusted after it And when I saw saith Achan among the spoiles a goodly Babylonish garment and a wedge of gold then I coveted them and tooke them David was defiled by the eye Hee saw Bathsheba from the roofe of his house washing her selfe and then he lusted Holy men have prayed to God that hee would keepe their eyes in a right frame and temper These are the particulars that Solomon giveth to young men in direction to take heed of carnall joy to take heed of walking after their hearts or after their sense And these things brethren I have now committed in direction to you The last use of this Doctrine is for old men For if young men may not rejoyce carnally much lesse may old men Youth may plead for it selfe in want of wisedome and gravitie sobrietie and experience better then those of age If young men may not have evill hearts and evill eyes much lesse old men Looke to it you that heare me this day that are stricken in age as the Scripture speakes that are smitten in your limmes with age that you cannot walke with activity and nimblenesse and are smitten in your senses with age that you cannot well see and heare and taste Oh that your hearts would smite you for your sinnes May not young men rejoyce in pleasures in friends in honours in wealth Much lesse may those of old age Must young men be carefull to chase away all carnall joy and to get spirituall joy that beginneth in godly sorrow much more must old men It is no time for those that are old to rejoyce in carnall things a few daies will make an end of them and lay them in the Grave Oh then you that are of yeares breake off your sinnes by repentance and your iniquities by mercy Rejoyce in being good and in doing good This Joy will continue with you as for the Joy of corne and wine and oyle and silver and gold this joy will die when you die Yea notwithstanding all the supports of this joy in this life yet in another life you may bee transported to hellish torments Thus much for this first In the second place Solomon sheweth the remedie against this carnall Joy in young men which also may bee a preservative against sinne both for young and old But know thou saith he that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement The Doctrine is thus much That the Lord God will certainly bring men to judgement for all the sinnes they have committed This is an infallible truth Know thou this that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement Malach. 3. 18. A booke of remembrance is written before God for those that feare the Lord and thought upon his name So the Lord hath a booke of remembrance wherein hee writeth downe the sinnes of the sonnes of men and this shall bee opened and unclasped in the evill day Eccles. 12. 14. God will bring every worke into judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it bee evill 2 Cor. 5. 10. Wee must appeare before the Iudgement seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that hee hath done whether it bee good or bad 1. Thes. 4. 16. The Lord himselfe shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voyce of the Archangell and with the trump of God Epistle of Iude vers 14. And Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied of this saying the Lord commeth with ten thousands of his Saints to execute Iudgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him For opening of this point I will briefly shew you these two things First what is the reason that God will bring all these things to Judgement Secondly what manner of Judgement it shall be For the first What is the reason that God will bring all these things to Judgement The first reason is His Decree Heb. 9. 27. It is appointed to all men once to die and after this the Iudgement Even as it must needs be that men must die because God hath so appointed it so also it must needs be that men must come to Judgement in regard of the purpose and decree of God Secondly God will doe this in regard of his righteousnesse Hee is a holy God a hater of iniquitie But many times in this world it is well with the wicked and ill with the godly Lazarus hee is in wofull miserie and Dives hee is in abundance of prosperitie Now God will shew his love to the righteous and his hatred to the wicked in this Judgement If judgement here begin at the house of God It is impossible the familie of Sathan should escape hereafter Thirdly God will by this meanes cleare his wayes as the Apostle speakes Rom. 2. 5. There are many wayes of God that are darke and
to this world and one that hath no further expectation then of things below Give me What A possession of buiall First A Possesson Hee would have it so conveyed as no man might make claime of it but that it should be for him and his for ever Therefore it was as it were a Church-yard that he begged such a one as was capable and had sufficient scope and roome for his whole Posteritie in the time to come in times of trouble and persecution for in this place were the Fathers and those Patriarches though we reade not of their Buriall in this place in the booke of God many of them yet notwithstanding it is likely that all the Patriarches had their bodies conveyed to this place and that the great ones in Egypt that so demeaned themselves that they had favour from the Court were brought to this place For these and himselfe and his present Familie about him whom it might please God to strike with Death he knew not how soone the holy Father desired a place separate that there might bee no mingling of the select people of God with those that were without God in the present world as the Apostle saith Now for this there is no distinction in our time for Christ being made the Corner stone hath made both walls one the Jewes and Gentiles being built upon himselfe all this difference is taken away But at that time it was fit to maintaine a distinction to keepe a note of difference As God set a marke upon the flesh of Abraham and upon the houses of the Isralites in Egypt so they kept this in all points even in their very Graves that a difference might be maintained betweene the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent to the uttermost Give mee a possession a burying place Here is the end why he would have this Possession A strange kind of Possession a thing that every one is borne to no man will denie this we say the land in the Church-yard is every mans every man is borne to that land Behold such a land such an inheritance this Father commeth to begge He hath not a foot of ground in all the whole land no place to dwell in but by their leaves no place to feed on but with their consent he is content thus to possesse to have it upon their hand to haue his house upon their liking and his field and grasse upon their affection and content to be gone and depart upon their bidding but when it commeth that his dead must be buryed there is no dislodging then no removing then that is a Possession he makes not other things his Possession but useth them in a transitorie manner So that the holy Ghost would teach us this that a mans Grave is his strong hold his Possession And indeed there is no Possession so durable and certaine as the Grave all the lands and all the meanes that a man hath in this world it may in the course of time either by the misguidance of the partie or the succession of prodigalls be made away that he that hath had full possessions may not have a foot of land to call his owne so Possessions are alterable sometime one mans sometimes anothers and againe anothers no man knoweth whose because they are still removing But when a man is possest of his Grave that is a long Possession that Lease is time out of mind and it holdeth to the comming of Christ to Judgement Though there be a sort of covetous men in the world that care not for lucre and gaine to remove dead bodies to make men pay deafe and yet presently when the memory of that payment is gone in this base respect to remove them from their naturall rest and to put new bodies in their roome Though this I say be practised by some yet notwithstanding the Lord hath ordered this that a man should have his Grave for ever and that all Christian men should know that they have no such true inherent possession sticking to them and they to it as the Grave Thus the great God bringeth us to life by death making us possesse the Grave here for a time and after possesseth us with life and glory and joy in the highest heavens Behold Abraham see how he beginneth to possesse the world by no land pasture or earable Lordship the first thing is a Grave So every Christian must make his resolution The first houshold-stuffe that ever Seleucus bought in Babylon was a Sepulchre stone a stone to lay upon him when hee was dead that he kept in his garden So we should begin to make that our chiefe utensill it should teach every Christian much more to be mortified so to the world as to bee settled upon nothing for a Possession so as the ground where his flesh shall rest in hope till the Lord revive him and give him his Spirit againe A strong kind of entrance this holy man made into the holy Land that the first thing hee takes possession of should bee a place of buriall for the dead Even so wondrously God useth to worke the promised seed it came of the dead wombe of Sarah and accordingly it is in this great and famous Historie that out of these dead ones the Lord takes such a firme possession of this Land that when foure hundred yeares were come about there was such a quicke issue that it drove all the Inhabitants out of the Land for out of Sarah that was now dead and Abraham and the Patriarches that were interred in his Cave out of their dead loynes the Lord raised a living issue of six hundred thousand footmen besides women and children that came under the conduct of Ioshua and discomfited the Captaines of the Land â—…d tooke possession The gracious God out of dead and poore things in the world raiseth strengeth and Majestie that those that they trampled upon and accounted as dead men the Lord made out of them such a living stocke that all the power of Canaan was not able to hold up and make head against them they were such a powerfull Armie but hid themselves in Caves and became as dead men to give place to these dead men Here is the wonderfull great glory of the Almightie out of meere nothing to worke all things and as he made all things that are seene out of nothing for by faith we learne that things that are seene were made of things that are not seene so he still continueth to lay his foundation in basenesse and humilitie in a ridiculous manner to flesh and bloud yet out of that hee bringeth large and infinite majestie and glory such as no man can aspire in his thoughts to thinke sufficiently of Give mee a burying place to bury my dead Behold he calleth here Sarah his dead he calleth her not Wife though it is said after in the Text that Abraham buried Sarah his wife yet that is in respect of the time of her life when they lived together and
in respect of the former societie and converse they had but now he speakes to the point she is no more his Wife but his dead It is translated by all in the Neuter Gender not my dead shee but my dead simply in the Neuter gender as a thing which now had not so much relation So it is true when men and women are severed by Death they are no more man and wife but one anothers dead For as the Apostle saith Doe you not know that as long as a man liveth his wife is subject to him and shee must not converse with another So likewise for men againe but when God dissolveth the contract by Death then as she is free for another man so she is no more his Wife so long as she was alive upon the ground she was his Wife but now when she is to goe into the ground he calleth her his dead but not his Wife The substance and summe is this That Matrimonie is Gods blessing for present use of mankind for the propagating of the Species to continue the seed of man to the worlds end that there may be still a generation to praise God their Creatour and so being a temporall thing ordained for the office of this life it ceaseth when Death commeth there is nothing but Death and that which Christ speakes of in the Gospell can make a separation when Death commeth all relations cease and a wife is no wife and a husband is no husband Behold out of thâ—… the infinite love of God in Christ that hath made all things all unions and contracts hath made all to be void but his owne for our Lord Jesus in life and death is our Husband our Lord our Master our Father as well in the one as in the other whereas by the intercourse of Death all things are dissolved two of the best friends that are may part upon discontent and body and soule must part at Death and Husband and wife the Symboll of Christ and his Church must part one from another yet when all societies and contracts part Christ doth not part from us but he is in the Grave as well as in the highest heavens our Husband and Lord and Spouse and wee are his Church still we keepe the same relation and as strong bonds in death as in life My Dead Yet notwithstanding though she was not Abrahams Wife yet she was Abrahams dead This must teach a man after he is freed by Death from the combination and contract yet that there is a care remaining to the Dead a love to that though not as to a Wife the respects of Man and Wife are carnall and fleshly Death commeth and cutteth downe the flesh therefore cutteth off that respect too but because she was dead and there was such bonds betweene them formerly therefore a man is bound to lament and sorrow for his dead as Abraham did here to love the memorie of the dead to speake well of the dead when occasion serveth to commend them for their vertues to use the friends of the dead as farre as is in their power with all courtisie to bee good to the children of the Dead those that the Mother hath left and not to cast them into the hands of a furious woman a new Wife that neither careth for dead nor living but to have a speciall regard to the bonds and familiaritie and that spirituall acquaintance that God made in this life and so to be good to all that come of that issue for their sakes Let me bury my dead Lastly it followeth why hee would burie his dead Out of my sight A strange thing Out of my sight Was his griefe so aggravated as hee could not still behold her face or was it necessary that the carkasse it selfe must be conveyed away must it needs be that the body being now no way amiable but noisome must be conveyed out of a mans sight The best friend in the world cannot endure the sight of a dead body it is a gastly sight especially when it commeth to that dissolution that the parts begin to have an evill savour and smell as all have when they are dead then to keepe themselves in life and health it is necessary to avoid them to burie their dead out of their sight And what so sweet a sight once to blessed Abraham as Sarah What so sweet a spectacle to the world as Sarah The great Kings of the world set her as a Parragon and shee came no where but her beauty enamoured them shee was a sweet prospect in all eyes every man gazed on her with great content to see the beautie of God as in so many lines marked out in the face of Sarah Yet now she is odious every eye that looked upon her before now winkes and cannot endure to looke upon her shee must bee taken out of sight Oh bethinke your selves of this you that take pride in this fraile flesh that pranke up your selves to make you gracefull in every eye you that studie to please the beholders you that are the great Minions of the world you that when age beginneth to purle your faces begin to redeeme your selves with paintings thinke of this Mother Sarah the beautifullest woman in the world is loathsome to her husband her sweetest friend therefore I beseech you in the feare of God leave these fooleries and vaine fancies remember what danger Sarahs beauty cast her into though it were a great gift of God yet shee had better have beene without it then to have that hazard of soule and body that shee was brought to by Abrahams travels and necessitie and know it that your best beauty is to please the eye of God to looke beautifull in his sight for the sight of God is never weary the sight of men will bee weary of you the best friends you have will loath to see you dead you will then be grisly in the eyes of men but the eye of God it is all one even in the dust and nothing can make you so ill-favoured but God will like you therefore labour to please Gods eye that never ceaseth nothing will make him alter his affection whereas the eyes of men this life is so full of foule alterations as the least sicknesse bringeth an abomination unto them I see the time prevents me I will speake a little to the present occasion We have here a depositum a gage a pawne of a deare Sister of ours a woman knowne to you all to be of a holy Christian conversation a neighbour full of peace and quiet and of good workes according to her calling Shee was also in the spirituall part a woman of a very good inclination loving the Word of God curious and attentive in the hearing of it Shee was much delighted in it and desired to communicate the knowledge she had in the Scriptures to others and to speake of it as often as occasion permitted By this studie it pleased the Lord to worke a constant and lively faith in
terrestriall the other so noble the one so ignoble the other so magnanimous the one so abject the other These Saints they did duly consider that our life it is but a Pilgrimage that this whole world is but a Diversorie or Inne to refresh us for a while that it is a warfare all things within us without us our enemies that this body is but a Tabernacle a Tent a Cottage an earthen vessell a Gourd the scabbard the prison of the soule more brittle then glasse decaying mouldering of itselfe though it bee preserved from eternall injuries of ayre or weather they saw the vanitie the vacuitie the emptinesse of the things of this life their affections were alienated estranged and divorced from the world they had by watchings fastings grovelings on the ground teares and groanes scoured off the drosse of their soules and made them polished statues of pietie they had made up their accounts betweene God and themselves and had sued out their pardon for their defects and failings and had that seated in their consciences they did penetrate the cloudes with the eye of faith and did see the immense good things layd up for them in heaven with which being ravished and impatient of cunctation and delay they desire to be vested in the possession of them though it were with the deposition of their house of clay which they did beare about them Of these things they had not a bare conjecture but a certaine knowledge For wee know ver 1. that if our earthly house of this tabernacle bee dissolved wee have a building not made with hands eternall in the heavens from this full perswasion did arise this heavenly affection in this wee groane earnestly But alas how different is our disposition from this heavenly temper how pale how wanne is our countenance at the mention of Death at the least summons of our last accounts as vinegar to our teeth as smoake to our eyes as a sudden dampe to our lights as an horrid cracke of thunder in the middest of our jollities so is the mention of Death If any aske the reason of this it is too manifest Want of judgement what is the true good of the sonnes of men Want of apprehension of the happinesse of the Saints Want of faith in God of Union with Christ our soules never make any holy peregrination from the body and seate themselves with Angels and Archangels and trace the streetes of New Ierusalem wee anticipate not the joyes of the life to come by devout meditations and contemplations wee have not our conversation in heaven from whence wee looke for our Redeemer Our soule thirsteth not our flesh longeth not after the living God The reason of this is wee hang upon the teats of the world like babes and children we suck venome out of it to our soules wee walke upon our bellies as uncleane beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee jutte against God and offend him our accompts are not streight and even therefore wee are afraid at the appearance of our Saviour and of our citation to appeare before his Tribunall wee groane when wee heare of death wee groane not that we may dye this is our condition and are not these different one unto another Doth not this staine the verdure of our countenances and cover us with shame and confusion to observe so manifest a declination of the fervor of the Spirit That you desire this heavenly temper I doubt not I should offer violence to Charitie the Queene of Graces if I should thinke otherwise For this cause many of you are strict in the performance of holy duties agreeable and convenient to this sacred time That your devotions may attaine a happy end let mee lend you an helping hand whilst I discourse these words which even now sounded in your eares In this wee groane earnestly c. Which I will resolve into three propositions 1. That wee are strangers in this life without our house 2. That the Saints desire their true and proper house 3. The intention of their desire In this wee groane c. That wee are strangers doe not the sacred Oracles declare our conversatinn our politie is in heaven saith the Doctor of the Gentiles Our life it is hid up with Christ Col. 2. Wee are fellow Citizens with the Saints of the houshold of God Ephes. 2. Doth not the chiefe of the Apostles intreat us as Pilgrims and strangers to abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule and doe not these and the like demonstrate unto us that a Christian lives with men yet abovemen in earth yet in heaven bound yet free deteyned with us yet farre above us living a double life one manifest the other Hid with Christ one contemptible the other glorious one naturall the other spirituall that his Parentage is from heaven that his Treasure is in heaven that his heart is in heaven that his roote is fastened in the everlasting mountaines though his branches are here below that his dwelling is in heaven though his peregrination be here on earth and did not these Oracles tell us thus much yet are there not enforcing arguments to convince us of this Truth Are not they strangers that are out of their proper place and are not Christians while they are here out of their place Is this world made for Man an Arke of travell a Schole of vanitie a Laborinth of errour a Grove full of thornes a Meadow full of Scorpions a flourishing garden without fruit a fountaine of miserie a river of teares a feigned fable a detestable frenzie and is this the place of man What meanes the fabricke of our body lifted up to heaven our hands eyes head upward but to shew us as Chalcidius the heathen man observed that our Progenitors are from heaven that our place is in heaven Every place is adequate to the thing placed in it is this world adequate to man are not his desires infinitely extended beyond the same Every place hath a conseruing vertue in it Doth this world preserve man well may it minister a little food to this beast of ours which we carry about us but can it afford the least favorie morsell to the soule it were to be wished that it did not poyson contaminate and defile the soule so that the safest way for the soule is to flie from the world as from the face of a Serpent Is this world the place of man why doth our tender Mother the Church assoone as wee come into the world snatch us out of the world and as soone as wee breathe in the ayre bury us by Baptisme in the Grave of Christ and assoone as we move in this world consigne us with the signe of the Crosse to fight against the world and all the pompes of the same and are not wee strangers Are not they strangers that have different lawes and divers customes and another Prince to rule and command them You have heard of the Prince of the ayre and the Lawes of the
instant upon which eternitie depends eternitie of miserie or eternitie of felicitie let us follow our Saviour let us seeke his face let us ascend with him let us not rest here Sleepe may overtake us a false Prophet may deceive us the snare may intangle us the Armie of the enemie may fall upon us let us be above all these Let us seeke those things that are above What where Sunne and Moone are nothing lesse Where then where God is where Christ who is our house our temple our habitation that wee may be cloathed with him this is the desire of all the Saints and this leades me to the second point That the Saints desire a true and proper house In this we groane earnestly c. What is meant by this house whether the Ioyes of heaven or a Glorified body is hard to determine by the context I incline to Calvins opinion that both are meant as making up that compleat house which the Saints desire the one as the introition the other as the consummation of their blisse and into both these houses I shall labour to introduce your spirits and affections The first house is the Ioyes of heaven a kingdome else-where for the amplitude for the abundant sufficiencie for the honour royaltie of them yet because many in kingdomes see not the face of the King and of those that see his face few are of his house and familie and of those that are of his Court few are familiar with him or converse with him and of those that converse with him few are his sonnes his heires Therefore this kingdome is an house wherein all see the face of God all are of his house all converse with him all stand in his presence all are his sonnes all are his heires a house so scituated as never any upon the brow of that hill which is the beauty of perfection the delight not of the wholeearth but of heaven itselfe in the purest ayre that ever was even puritie it selfe freed from all malignant vapour a place irriguous with the chrystall streames of Paradise it selfe a place inriched with all the precious things the heart of man can desire an house not built by man but by God himselfe not of terrestriall feculent matter not of gold or silver but that which excells all valuation whatsoever the hanging or ornaments of which house are not of Arras or Tissue or cloth of gold or whatsoever is more precious with men but farre above these such and so excellent that Neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard neither hath the like entred into the hearts of men The delights of this house are such that if all the contentments and delights that ever ravished the hearts of men in their private houses were put together yet were they but as a candle to the Sunne as a drop to the Ocean Oh the statelinesse and magnificence of the Hall of this house wherein are Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessours Saints Angels the blessed Virgin especially all of them praising and lauding God! Blessed are they that dwell in this house they will be still praising thee Here in this life are varietie of imployments according to the diversitie of mens Callings and their necessities but there shall bee no necessitie there shall bee but one worke the worke of Praise a duty which in this life is performed with fatigation and wearinesse but there it shall be done with all sweetnesse and delight this delight increasing with the continuance of the same No vaine thoughts to interrupt this dutie no wearinesse of the flesh to weaken this dutie no necessitie or indigencie to rend us from this duty but as it will bee our happinesse to love and see God so it will be the exercise of our happinesse to admire and to laud God while wee are here such is the weaknesse of our apprehension that wee cannot with the same act conceive the worke and the workman we cannot thinke of the benefit and the authour of the same then wee shall be enabled to joyne both these together so to admire the worke as at the same time to praise the authour so to contemplate the benefit as at the same time to fall downe before the benefactour Oh the statelinesse of this presence where the face of God the beautie of God the Majestie of God is seene in so glorious a manner that even Angels and Archangels cover their faces not being able to behold stedfastly the great lustre of the same Oh the lovelinesse of the chambers of the King made for the soule to repose her selfe in all spirituall delight after her labour and travell in this miserable world oh the beauty of the Masions of this house prepared by Christ himselfe for the soule to refresh her selfe with all spirituall food and oh the varietie and excellencie of the food of this house the understanding shall have his food morning and evening knowledge a cleare view of all things not in themselves or in their causes but in their exact Ideas subsisting in the essence of God but especially the radiant vision of the face of God the Essence of God the Sunne of righteousnesse The will shall have her food goodnesse joy delectation not by measure but drowned in the full ocean of these with that stabilitie and confirmation that shee cannot will that which is evill The affections shall have their food being fully satisfied beyond their desires The Body shall have his food being made an impassible clarified agill spirituall body defecated and purified from this feculent elementarie food and all other alterations common to it with beasts and which is most wonderfull the King of Kings shall gird himselfe to reach out these Joyes unto us they shall bee administred unto us Ve jad hammelek by the hand by the power of a King Did I say this of my selfe who would give credence unto me but Truth saith it Luke 12. 37. Blessed are those servants whom hee shall find watching verely I say unto you that hee shall gird himselfe and make them sit downe to meate and will come forth and serve them Oh wonderfull dignation who ever heard of the like Stat Catodum Lixa bibit the Lord stands the servant sits the Lord is girt the servant is loosed the Master is reaching out full bowles and the servant is inebriated with the rivers of these pleasures once hee girt himselfe to wash his Disciples feet and the servant was astonished to see so great a Majestie condescending to so meane ministerie shall wee not bee much more ravished with this ineffable dignation when he shall againe gird himselfe to supply the soule with unspeakeable delight as if God himselfe intended nothing in heaven but to heape content upon them that sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heaven This is the fatnesse the excellencie of this house with the weake adumbration whereof I doubt not but that your hearts are so taken that yee have reduced all your desires to this one with
deposition and laying downe of the same that so they may receive a glorified a clarified an incorruptible spirituall body not made of a spirit but serviceable to the spirit they desire that these eyes may bee so defecated that if they cannot behold the essence of God yet they may stedfastly behold the Empyrian heavens the splendour of our Saviour and the lustre of the bodies of the Saints more bright then the Sunne seven times they desire that these hands may bee blessed with the contrectation of that sacred body that redeemed them they desire that this body may be so transparent and lucid that the Soule may sally out freely not at the eye alone but at every part to contemplate those glorious objects that it may bee so prelucid that the very thoughts of the heart and the divine fancies that are in the imaginative part may bee seene through it that it may be so stript of corporall densitie and grossenesse that like lightning it may bee here and there that it may be fit for raptures and extasies and the Soule no more doubtfull whether shee be in the body or not in the body This the Saints desire and long after And let me speake this of you oh triumphant Soules that are now in blisse without the least impeachment of your happinesse This even you thirst after you esteeme it an imperfect estate to bee without your bodyes though you glorifie and praise GOD in your soules yet you count it an imperfect worke and say with the Psalmist In death no man remembreth thee and in the grave no man shall give thee thankes though your spirits doe it without ceasing without failing yet the whole man doth it not and such an insatiable aviditie there is in you of the praise of God that unlesse it bee done totally and fully you thinke it not done at all therefore you desire this glorified organe but the Saints on earth being much more depressed with this heavy clay cry out with these Saints In this wee groane earnestly c. To bee cloathed upon with our house c. An improprietie of speech I confesse for men doe not cloath them selves with houses yet of eminent elegancie and pregnant with varietie of instructions to shew the fitnesse of this glorie to every soule as apparell is fitted to every body to shew the comelinesse of this glory as apparell is an ornament to a man to shew the firme adhesion of this glorie the whole man as a garment doth cleave close unto him to shew the redundancie of this glorie that a man shall inveloppe himselfe in this glorie as a man doth inwrappe himselfe in his garment to shew the Authour of this glorie hee that made garments to cover mans nakednesse in Paradise below hee maketh robes of honour to adorne him everlastingly in Paradice which is above to shew the undeservednesse of it on our part that these garments they are not webbes of our owne spinning but robes of Gods giving to shew the all-sufficiencie of this glory in this life wee need houses to dwell in and rayment to cover us and food to nourish us and fire to warme us but this glory it shall be a Magazine of all spirituall store an house to shelter us a garment to cover us Manna to feed us water to refresh us it shall be all in all unto us These and many more instructions are folded up in the Cabinet of this Metaphor which streights of time will not give mee leave to unfold and spread before you but must leave them to your private meditations and so passing though unwillingly from these two houses which the Saints desire I must raise up your attention to their ardent affection unto them In this wee groane earnestly c. Wherein you see the intention of their affection and the expression of it The intention not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Desiring but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Desiring earnestly The expression of it by groanes In this wee groane earnestly The one the soule the other the body the one the forme the other the exercise the one the roote the other the branch or if you will the one the fire the other the fuell the one the flame the other the oyle that nourisheth the flame The first is the intension of the affection As those that are in a longing passion die if they bee not satisfied as the pregnant Mother groanes to be delivered of her burthen as those that are pressed under a heavy weight faint if they be not eased even so the Saints pressed downe with that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that eternall weight of glorie mentioned in the precedent Chapter a burthen which did both presse them downe and raise them up that did both streighten them and enlarge them like the feathers of the Dove which adde to her Masse but take off from her gravitie which makes her more corpulent and yet more light even so this weight of glory so pressed downe the Saints that it raised them up to the Throne of the Lambe and feeling this body of sinne this body of death which they did beare about them as plummets of lead hanging at their feet they desire eft-soone to bee stripped of all incumbrances and impediments to depose and lay downe this cottage of clay that so being absent from the body they might be present with the Lord this was the violence of their affection In this wee groane earnestly c. An affection worthy the name of an affection truly grounded and thereforetowring so high that it is almost invisible to our weake sight There are some in this life that are fed with gall and wormewood with teares and groanes upon whom the wheele of oppression is roled breaking all their bones so that they seeke for death as for pearles and hidden treasures as an end and period of their miseries Others there are who seeing the vanitie of the things of this life and ballancing with them the transcendent excellencie of the Soule of man above the world had rather be idle or not be at all then to be so basely and meanly imployed and rewarded as the world doth remunerate her favourites Others make bitter invectives against the body as the onely impediment to the soule in her more pure speculations placing the happinesse of the soule in the separation from the body all these come farre short of this divine affection which hath not her rise from the miseries of this life or from the vanitie of the creature or from the incumbrances of this cottage but from a true apprehension of the love of God from a deepe panting after union with him from a taste of the powers of the life to come from a Soule inflamed with a coale from Gods Altar Looke upon these Saints in my Text they were indeed exercised beyond measure with those things which wee call miseries calamities afflictions at the mention whereof wee quake like Aspen leaves but were these tainted with impatiencie were these groanes fuliginous
vapours from a malecontented spirit Did they not account these afflictions their Justs and Barriers and Turnaments and exercises of honour and chivalrie at which Angels and Archangels were present with their Euges and approbations God himselfe the chiefe Spectator and rewarder of these exercises they themselves tryumphing and boasting in their tryalls with the impresse of the Apostle on their shields of faith Wee are perswaded 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 bee able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus They were more Eagle-eyed by the strength of grace to pry into the nothingnesse of the creature then all the Philosophers by the strength of nature they did mortifie and crucifie and keepe under the body with the lusts thereof and more truly detest the corruption of the outward man then any Platonist whatsoever but were these the grounds the rise of this celestiall affection nothing lesse to see God to enjoy God to dwell with him to converse with him to be bee dissolved to be with Christ these transported their affections not the emptinesse of the things below but fulnesse of things above not the basenesse of earthly things but the glorie of celestiall things not the miseries of this life or of this crazie vessell but the happinesse of the life to come they had but a glimpse of this strange light darted into their soules and the whole world was darknesse unto it they had a gust of sweetnesse cast into the palate of their soules and all things else were bitter and unsavorie Christ was placed in the summitie and height of their soules and the desire of the full fruition of him caused that fainting that earnest longing in their spirits You will say if this be so what will become of the greatest part of Christians who are afraid to die who are so farre from groaning to depose this Tabernacle that they groane at the least intimation of dissolution It is true that all men receive not this saying neither is it for every one to attaine to this perfection As there are two sorts of faith so there are two forts of Christians there is a strong faith and a weake faith and there are strong Christians and there are weake Christians the strong Christian is willing to dye and patient to live the weake Christian is willing to live and patient to dye hee goes when God calls but he could wish that God would deferre his calling hee hath good hopes of heaven but he desires a little more to enjoy the earth he loves God more then all yet his affections are not fully taken off from all hee is not perplexed with the feares of Hell yet hee is not ravished with the joyes of Heaven hee hath much strength but knowes it not as many a Spectator of a prize is better able to performe it then he that undertakes it but either through faintnesse of heart or ignorance of his owne strength dare not put it to the hazard but had rather commend another mans valour then trye his owne whereas a strong Christian a man growne in Christ sends a challenge to this Gyant Death singles him out as a fit object of his valour grapples with him not as with his match but as his underling insulteth over him setteth his foot on the necke of this King of terrours and by conquering him captivates with great facilitie all other pettie feares of ignominie povertie and the like which therefore are dreadfull because they tend to Death the last the worst the end the summe of all feared evills this is the unconquerable crowne of Faith this is the glory of a Christian this is the Diadem of honour wreathed about his Temples advancing him above all other men whatsoever But you will say may a man desire death Is this now a question what meanes the agony of the Apostle I desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ. What meanes the earnest longing of the Spouse Apoca. 22. The Spirit saith come and the Bride saith come and let him that heares say come What meanes her fainting in the Canticles I am sicke of love let him bring mee into his chamber Let mee see his face I am sicke unto death Let mee dye lest I dye that I may see him for ever What meanes the character of a true Christian As many as love the appearance of the Lord which cannot be without death What meanes the incredible contempt of death in ancient Christians insomuch that it was a received Maxime with the Heathen Omnis Christianus est contemptor mortis What meanes the heroicall encouragement of old Hilarion Egredere anima egredere quid times Goe out my soule goe out why tremblest thou What meanes the words of old Simion in the flames Thus to die is to live What meanes the rapture of Saint Chrysostome that hee would thanke that man that would kill him as transmitting him more speedily to those unconceivable Joyes What meanes this groaning and thirsting in my Text Doe not these demonstrate that it is lawfull to desire death Not simply in it selfe or for it selfe it is the separation of those two whom God hath coupled it is a cessation of being it is an evill of punishment the daughter of sinne to desire it simply were to desire evill which is abhorrent to nature much lesse ought wee to hasten our death by violent meanes Let their memories bee buried in perpeturall silence as the botches and ulcers of Christianitie who out of impatience have perpetrated this heinous sinne a sinne against God and man against nature against grace against the Church against the common-wealth against all things The Heathen man could say that we are the possession of God to be disposed of by him not by our selves the body is the structure of God the worke of his hands the Tabernacle which hee hath made and not to be removed or to bee taken downe but by his command while we live we may advance the glory of God the good of others wee may impeople heaven make up the ruines of Angels to hasten our death were to envie this glory to God this good to others In that distraction of our Apostle betweene two good things his owne glory and the good of others you know which way the scales inclined to the good of others as if he had said Let my glory be deferred so Gods glory be increased let my joy be increased let my joy be suspended so the joy of Angels and of the Court of heaven be intended by the conversion of sinners Nay more this is a small thing Let me be an Athema so Israel be blessed let me be blotted out of the booke of life so thousands bee inserted let the bowels of Christ be streightened to me so they bee enlarged to others this is life indeed this is the end of our life this will comfort
us in this life and crowne us in the life to come Hee that can truly say that while he lived hee lived to God not to himselfe that he sincerely propounded the glory of God and the good of others unto himselfe this man may write upon his Tombe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have lived take this out of the life of man and what is it but a meere death if not worse though it bee protracted to the yeares of Methusalem twice told Thus simply to defire death is not good but cloathe this with some circumstances and then to desire death is not onely warrantable but commendable when we have done all the good we can when our lives will be no more serviceable to Church or Common-wealth when we have with all fidelitie done our Masters worke when we have the testimonie of a good conscience that wee have fought a good fight that wee have kept the faith that wee have finished our race then may we say with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace then may we with our Apostle lift up our eyes to the crowne of righteousnesse which the righteous Iudge hath laid up for them that feare him then we may expect the Euge of the good servant Well done good and faithfull servant enter into the joy of the Master Againe when we are called to be Holocausts or sacrifices oblations of sweet savours the Frankincense of the Church to perfume others to deliver up our lives unto God to seale his Truth with our bloud to encourage others then we ought to runne unto death with all alacritie rejoycing that wee are counted worthie to suffer for his Name to triumph to boast in this out of these cases to have such a taste of God such a rellish of the joyes of heaven such a longing after the presence of Christ as not to be ready but to be willing not to be prepared for the stroake of death but to be desirous of it to esteeme of death as the funerall of sinne the interring of vice the period of miseries the Charter of freedome the Pattent of of exemption from evill of sinne from evill of punishment the day of our birth the season of harvest the seale of our victorie the haven of our happinesse our introduction into heaven our inauguration into a kingdome the Chariot of our triumph the day of our returne to our proper house to our Parents to our best friends This is the affection which is required in us at which we ought to ayme Let this house of clay be resolved into the principles of the same what wonder if that which is built be throwne downe and that which is compounded be resolved and that which was borrowed of the Elements bee repayed againe and that which was taken from the earth be committed to the custodie of the earth Nay let me triumph in the resolution of this peece of clay into the exilest atome and admire the counsell of God that this Carkasse is crumbled into the smallest dust and sifted into the coursest branne even to dust and ashes Were not this body resolved into dust who would beleeve his originall to be from the earth what pride what elevation would follow what carking and caring for this earthly Tabernacle if now when we see it to be but a spawne of wormes and the food of Emmits there is such immoderate excesse what would there be if the body were exempted from putrifaction what desolations would follow in Cities in Townes how many would dwell in monuments with those whom they have honoured or affected in their lives if many be now so impotent that though the body bee putrified they cannot forbeare imbracing of it and to solace themselves make Pictures of their dead friends and dote upon these what would they not doe if their bodyes were immortall What neglect would there be of the soule the better part of a man who would know the vertue of it that it is not onely salt to the body to keepe it sweet but the life the beauty the comlinesse of the body Who would beleeve the consummation the period of the world if our bodyes were immortall who would mind heavenly things who seeke those things that are above what deifying of the body would follow what Idolatries what superstitions what Temples built what Altars erected what varietie of Ceremonies instituted to the body All which God hath pluckt up by the rootes by this putrifaction and incinneration of our bodyes by this teaching us to contemne earthly things to have our cogitations on heaven to thinke upon this scale to ascend up to this Mount to aspire to this intention which that we may let me adde fuell to the fire and oyle unto the flame the expression of this affection to the intention of it earnest groaning to eager desiring In this wee groane earnestly That is for this wee sigh out not our breath but our spirits we groane out not fuliginous vapours but our very hearts we weepe not teares but bloud for this wee immolate the sufferings of our bodyes and macerate them with watchings and fastings we roule them in dust and ashes we exercise them in all humiliation and repentance And this is to groane earnestly in my Text. This is the negotiation of the outward man whereby it trades for heaven this is the conversion of a peece of clay into a pile of frankincense this addes wings unto our Prayers this openeth the eares of God this dissipateth the cloudes of his countenance this inclineth him to clemencie towards us this maketh the Widow continent and the Virgin unspotted this lifts up the voluntarie Eunuch to the kingdome of heaven this perfects the grace that is in the soule this washeth away the staines and contaminations that are in the soule this is the beautie and comelinesse of a Christian. How lovely were the Ninivites how glorious was the King in sackcloth sitting in his throne of dust and ashes what were his Robes of Majestie and Royaltie to these ornaments they might dazle the eyes of the body for a time these dazle the eyes of the mind even at this day after so many hundred yeares they might procure him honour with men these made him honoured by God himselfe Letcorporall eyes looke upon an abject and meane apparance of a King in these weedes yet doe not spirituall eyes see through these garments Humilitie Patience submission feare of God and the like and are there any Jewels like unto these what are those garments which are the labour of a worme to these robes that are the worke of Gods Spirit What is a chaine of Pearle to a chaine of warme and successive teares beaten out of the rocks of a broken and contrite heart they may adorne the body this adornes the soule and which is more bindes the hands of God himselfe Let whose will admire the victories and triumphs of David over the enemies of Israel which are indeed worthy of admiration I admire him
losse a man may lose his owne soule Thirdly the compossibilitie of outward prosperitie hee may lose his soule in gaining the whole world And then lastly the wofull bargaine in such an exchange What is a man profited Of these in order First of the surpassing excellencie and dignitie of mans soule it is valued and prized here above the whole world It was the plausible conceit of certaine Philosophers that the world was a great man and that man was a little world a little world indeed but as Saint Austin tearmes him a great wonder for within this little world there is a reasonable soule worth all the world To render an exact definition of the soule it requires the tongue of an Angell rather then of a man it passeth the comprehension of travellers to apprehend the nature of the soule for these three God Angels and mans Soule they are unknowne to us we may sooner admire their excellencie then conceive their nature and argue of their opperations then attaine their knowledge of such sublimitie is the soule of man so Angelicall and Divine the excellencie whereof is commended to us by three distinct voyces of Nature Grace Glorie For first in the order of nature it is the greatest thing saith Plato that we may conceive in a narrow roome the most noble thing that all the frame of nature affords and that In respect of the Originall Image In respect of the Originall the soule of man hath no beginning here there was no voyce directed to the earth or to the water for the production of Adams soule but a serious consultation of the sacred Trinitie and a breathing into his nostrils the breath of life Saith Saint Austin he created it by infusion and infused it by creation And the Philosopher well concludes that the soule as it is not from without it is only Divine Therefore the Manichees extolled it too high when they deemed it a portion of Gods substance let not others abase and depresse it too low to thinke it is derived from Parents it comes not of their substance it is enough for them to be the fathers of the flesh God alone is the Father of spirits as the Apostle makes the antithesis Heb. 12. 9. Secondly for the Image the soule is most like God saith Plato Saith Aristotle it is of the neerest kinne of the greatest consanguinitie as I may say and the Lord himselfe signifies so much After our Image let us make man Then the soule of man is not stamped with a Roman Caesar but with Gods owne Image and superscription and that First in respect of the substance being not only a spirituall intellectuall incorporeall invisible essence but explaining by the pluralitie of Powers in the unitie of Essence the pluralitie of Persons in the unitie of the Deitie Secondly being furnished with singular indowments as in the state of innocencie with perfect wisedome and holinesse and righteousnesse Yea still in the state of sinne some generals are left some broken fragments of the creation morall qualifications that may lead us by the hand to the knowledge of our Master Lastly in regard of the commanding power it hath over the body It is to the body as Moses was to Pharoah a God to the body it actuates it and mooves and commands and restraines it whereby next and immediatly under God wee live and moove and have our being Seeing then the soule is the immediate worke and character of God himselfe so excellent for the Originall and for the Image let nature conclude that the soule in these regards is of greater value then the whole world Secondly in the Kingdome of grace the price of the soule is farre above the dignitie of the world and that in the grace of Redemption and the grace of renovation For first in the soules redemption the soule amounts so high as that the whole Creation is not able to discharge it It is not gotten for gold nor silver is not weighed for the price of it it is not valued with the gold of Ophir or the precious Onix It cost more to redeeme the soule of sinfull man the precious bloud of the eternall Sonne of God hee could only redeeme it that at the first created it Yee are bought with a price the precious bloud of Christ. Secondly in the grace of renovation nothing is able to cleanse it from sinne but the Spirit of God The Spirit alone must enlighten the understanding and rectifie the affections and purifie the will and sanctifie the conscience and seale up the Image of God in righteousnesse and true holinesse And the soule thus renewed is as a Garden inclosed a spirituall Paradise where the God of heaven delights to dwell the Spouse of the Beloved and in the phrase of the Church As the Lillie among the thornes so is my love among the daughters Seeing it appeares that the universall World is not able to redeeme or being redeemed to renew or renewed to paralell the soule let grace subscribe to that which nature concludes that the soule is of greater value then the whole world Lastly for the passage of glory the contents of the whole Universe are not able to come neere the soule Saith S. Bernard well well it may be busie and tooke up with other things but it cannot be satiate and replenished with them And Democrates imagined that if there were millions of worlds it were all one in comparison of the soule for blessednesse The world is transitorie like the dew of the morning it fades as the grasse and as the flower of the field whereas on the contrarie the soule of man is the subject of immortalitie capable of an exceeding surpassing eternall weight of glory For if in the time of grace we bâ—…ld as in a glasse the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. How resplendant shall the soules of the righteous bee in the beatificall vision of Gods excellencies How wonderfull shall that divine capacitie be that shall be capable of God himselfe for a perpetuall residence Insomuch that the most ancient of dayes shall give fulnesse to the Soule of knowledge and wisdome and his sacred Spirit that shall fill it with the fulnesse of God with contentation and the sacred Trinitie shall be all in all to it Seeing then the Soule is capapable and is the subject of the happinesse and joyes of heaven and partner with the glorious Angels in the fruition of the chiefe good let the sentence of glory joyne to Grace and nature that the Soule is of greater value then the whole world Behold then O man out of the moutâ—…â—…ee witnâ—… for I may say in this case as Saint Iohn saith 〈◊〉 â—…other Tâ—… 〈◊〉 three that beare record in heaven the Father the â—…d and 〈◊〉 â—…y Ghost Behold out of the mouth of three Wiâ—…ses the sâ—…passing excellencie and
eternall damnation and the sweetnesse of imaginarie gaine what proportion hath it with the bitternesse of so great a losse Riches have wings they take their leave honour is transitorie pleasures flie away whereas the soule of man is the subject of immortalitie And thy poore neglected soule must bide by it for an everlasting pledge and pay the debt O! then continue this glory that is nothing First seeke Gods kingdome and the glory of it suffer not heaven to stand at so great a distance to thy soule tast and see how gracious the Lord is by one drop of water from that celestiall fountaine by one crumme from that heavenly table and then as concerning the things below thou wilt account them as drosse and dung in comparison of that joy and peace of conscience Resolve as Themistocles when hee saw a goodly bootie hee would not stoupe to take it up leave these things for the Children of this world But let your care be to please the Lord and to gaine the peace of a good conscience First seeke the kingdome of God which consists not in meat and drinke but in righteousnesse and peace and joy in the holy Ghost Remember the vanitie of the things of the world remember how unable the soule is to enjoy hell and to lose heaven without eternall horrour and in consideration hereof Use the World as though you used it not and use this as a proofe hide it in a sanctified memorie and write it in the table of a sanctified conscience if it were possible with a pen of Iron and the point of a Diamond What is a man profited if hee gaine the whole world and lose his owne soule FINIS CHRIST HIS SECOND ADVENT OR THE APPROACH OF THE GOD OF RECOMPENCES ACT. 1. 11. This same Iesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seene him goe into heaven Epist. JUDE vers 14. Behold the Lord commeth with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deedes which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. CHRIST HIS SECOND ADVENT OR THE APPROACH OF THE GOD OF RECOMPENCES SERMON XXIII REVEL 22. 12. Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his workes THe Angell having described to Saint Iohn in the Chapter immediatly before and in the former part of this Chapter the exceeding great joy and glory and felicitie that all the godly shall have in the kingdome of heaven by comparing it to a Citie built with precious stones having twelve gates and twelve foundations wherein there is no darknesse they needing no candle nor the light of the Sunne for Christ Jesus the Sunne of righteousnesse is the continuall light thereof And that therein is no miserie no crosse no imperfection no want no calamitie but continuall joy and rejoycing Where their songs are Halelujah and their shields felicitie in the continuall enjoying of the presence of Almighty God the glorious Trinitie Having I say thus described these joyes he doth in the words of my Text for the comfort of the godly Who have here no continuing Citie but are strangers and forreiners and pilgrims and travellers to another Citie and seeke a Countrie And in this their travell they meete with many crosses and afflictions and miseries And likewise for the terrour of the wicked that make this world their kingdome and are the chiefe Lords and commanders of the same for the comfort of the one and the terrour of the other the Angell here in the person of Christ saith hee will come and that shortly to bee a speedy deliverer of the one and a just Judge against the other Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me c. In which words observe these particular branches First the word of preparation or attention in the first word Behold which is as it were a Trumpet that sounds before the comming of the great Judge bidding every one to fit and prepare himselfe to hold up his hand at the barre Behold Secondly the Person and that is the Judge himselfe speaking in the person of the Angell I Christ Jesus himselfe Thirdly his action I come Fourthly the speedinesse of his comming shortly Fiftly the end of his comming to Judgement and that is to reward every man according to his workes Sixtly and lastly the quantitie and the qualitie of the reward inclusively set downe which is according to the qualitie of the workes for if the workes be good there shall be a great and good reward but if they be bad the reward shall be accordingly The small model of time will not suffer mee to runne over all these particulars therefore my meditations and your attention shall be in one doctrine from the words in generall and that is this that Christ Iesus will hasten his comming to Iudgement to reward the godly with everlasting and eternall felicities but the wicked and ungodly with endlesse woe and perpetuall miserie For the proofe of which doctrine you may consider these foure things First of all the certaintie and celeritie of Christs comming to Judgement Secondly the signes that prognosticate his comming Thirdly the Judgement it selfe Lastly the end For the certaintie of Christs comming to judgement I perswade my selfe that there is none here among you so ignorant that hee doth not know or so Atheisticall that he doth not beleeve you know it is an Article of our beliefe that he ascended into heaven and there hee sits at the right hand of his Father in glorie and from thence he shall come at the end of the world to judge both the quicke and the dead Therefore I may spare the labour and the time in any further proofe of that Now concerning the speedinesse of his comming to judgement If so be the day of Judgement was at hand sixteene ages since as both Christ and his Apostles proclaimed if then even in Christs dayes the ends of the world were come as Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 10. 11. If then was the last time as Saint Iohn saith 1 Iohn 2. 18. If then the end of all things were at hand as Saint Peter saith 1 Pet. 4. 7. can we thinke that now it is farre off Nay so sure and so certaine as God is God and his Word is truth and not one jotte nor tittle thereof shall passe away he is neere at hand hee will come shortly But before wee proceed there lies two stumbling blocks in the way that wee must remove wherewith many stumble concerning this point In the time of the Apostles there were two heresies confuted the one by Saint Peter the other by Saint Paul Saint Peter in 2 Pet. 3. 3. he wills us to understand that in the last dayes there shall come scoffers men
living after their owne lusts saying Where is the promise of his comming You preach so much that Christ Jesus is comming to Judgement and to call every one of us to account for our wayes our words and actions but where is the promise of his comming for all things continue alike from the beginning of the Creation Miserable men that would be perswaded that the day of Judgement should never come because it was deferred but such jesting and mocking and scoffing at this great and terrible day heretofore used and indeed now practised in the whole progenie of unbeleevers it may be an argument to us that it shall not be deferred for so saith Saint Paul 1 Thes. 5. 3. when they shall say peace peace and safetie then destruction shall come on them as travell on a woman with child and they shall not escape But Saint Peter answers these scoffers that asked Where is the promise of his comming hee gives them two answers The one in verse 8. the other verse 9. In the eighth verse he saith Christ deferres not long to come to judgement for saith he one day with the Lord is as a thousand yeares c. alluding to Psal. 90. 4. A thousand yeares in thy sight are but as yesterday since they passe as a watch in the night As if he should say were it possible for a man to live a thousand yeares yet those thousand yeares in respect of God assoone as they are past they are as one day in respect of men nay they are but as a watch of the night that is but as three houres The old Jewes they divided the night into foure Watches and appointed to each Watch three houres as may appeare by comparing of these places of Scripture together Mat. 14. 24. Num. 14. 25. Luke 12. 38. So then the words beare this exposition that a thousand yeares in respect of God are but as one day nay but as a Watch of the night that is but as three houres It doth plainly shew to us that Saint Peter meant not to speake distinctly of a thousand yeares but of a long time so that his meaning is innumerable yeares in respect of God are but as one day Saint Peter might as well have said 2000. or 3000. or 10000. thousand yeares in respect of God are but as one day Thus you have his first answer to those scoffers that said Where is the promise of his comming His second answer is in the ninth verse where the Apostle saith The Lord is not slacke concerning his promise Where is the promise of his comming Why saith the Apostle The Lord is not slacke as we account slacknesse For we account them slacke that goe slowly about a worke but God is not so to bee accounted slacke but saith the Apostle Hee is patient towards us and would have none perish but come to repentance Then the slacknesse of Christs comming is his patience because he would give us time to repent and have us prepared before hee come O then beloved let us not make a mocke as others doe of this patience but while we have time let us take time that when he comes we may be worthy of him Thus you have the first heresie confuted The second was quite contrarie to this set abroach by certaine false teachers who taught the Thessalonians that the day of Judgement was so neere that it should happen in their age Where by the way you may take notice of the exceeding great subtiltie of the Divell that labours by all meanes possible to bring men to one of these extreames Either that the day of Judgement shall never come or it shall come in such a limited time and age And indeed it is ranked among the opinions of some that held that the day of judgement should be just 6000. yeares after the Creation 2000. before the Law 2000. under the Law and 2000. under the Gospell But Saint Paul answers these false teachers among the Thessalonians and all of the like opinion therefore to arme them against their assaults he bids them for a certainetie beleeve it 2 Thessal 2. that the day of judgement was not at hand And hee gives the reason verse 3. For saith he that day shall not come except there be a departing first and that man of sinne the sonne of perdition bee revealed But how is it that the Apostle tells the Thessalonians that the day of Judgement was not at hand seeing it is plaine in the places before recited that the end of the world was at hand and that now was the last times and Heb. 9. 26. Christ appeared in the end of the world It was in the end of the world that Christ appeared to sacrifice himselfe for our sinnes how is it then that he tells the Thessalonians here that the day of the Lord is not at hand Master Calvin saith the answer is easie for saith he in respect of God it was at hand but as for us we must be continually waiting for it But Master Beza and Rollock give another Exposition which I take to be more naturall to the place for say they in all those places where it seemes to be avouched that the day of the Lord is at hand they understand the word in the Originall to signifie generally a time drawing neere As to say the day of Judgement may be this day as well as to morrow and to morrow as well as this day and many dayes hence as well as now But in that place where he saith it is not at hand they understand the word precisely to be meant of a precise time so the Apostle speakes truly the day of Judgement is not at hand so as that any man can say it shall bee this day or this moneth or this houre or this yeare or this age This is no more but the doctrine of Christ Of that day and houre no man knoweth no not the Angels in heaven no not Christ himselfe as man but the Father only So you see it is plaine and evident that the day of Judgement is at hand but in what precise limits of time or age it shall happen it is uncertaine Our Saviour Christ tells his Apostles Act. 1. 7. It is not for you to know the times and seasons that the Father hath put into his own hands It is not for you to know these times Then beloved why should we have an eare to heare where God hath not a tongue to speake Let it suffice us to know that it is at hand which if wee make good use of it will make us warie and watchfull and vigilant over all our wayes that we say not with the evill servant Our Master deferres his comming let us eate and drinke and beat our fellow servants but betake our selves to the good servants dutie to watch Watch we therefore wee know not the day and houre when the Sonne of man commeth But when he commeth and findes us doing well dealing
Thirdly he is condemned already in his owne conscience First in the counsell of God God hath made an eternall decree of Predestination whereby he hath elected some to salvation and predestinated them thereto and others to damnation In this Gods eternall decree the unbeleever is alreadie condemned nay before ever he came into the world as you have it in the example of Iacob and Esau Rom. 9. before ever they had done good or evill God hated the one and loved the other Secondly in the word of God hee is condemned Iohn 3. 18. Why because he hates the light and loves darknesse Thirdly in his owne conscience he is condemned for the continuall horrour thereof gives him no rest day nor night there is a worme continually gnawing there and a sting tormenting him but the full execution thereof is to be in the day of wrath when he shall be set at the left hand of Christ and heare the sentence Goe yee cursed into eternall fire prepared for the divell and his angells O what a terrible day will this be to all the wicked workers of iniquitie for Christ Jesus the Judge shall come then to give them their reward This shall be a blacke a sad a wofull dismall day to them they shall not be able to looke on the Judge he shall bee so terrible to them You see the terriblenesse of the Judge set downe by Saint Iohn Revel 20. 10 11. where it is said hee saw a great white throne and one sitting thereon from whose face fled heaven and earth and their place was no more found Heaven and earth are great and mightie creatures insensible creatures that have not sinned they flie and tremble and hide themselves at the comming of the great Judge and shall man silly sinfull man thinke to stand before the Judge without trembling Indeed if a man could present himselfe spotlesse without blame he needed not to feare but a las it is farre otherwise there is none that doth good and sinneth not saith Solomon The most righteous before men are stained and poluted in the sight of God and may crie with the Leper Uncleane uncleane what is man that hee should be pure or the sonne of man that hee should bee just with God The Angels of heaven are impure in his sight how much more filthy man that drinketh iniquitie as water Job 15. So in Psal. 14. 2. When God lookes downe from heaven upon the sonnes of men to see if there were any that would understand and seeke after God Will he find any that frames themselves according to the rule of perfection that hee requires surely no but this he findes they are all corrupt and abominable in their doings there is none that doth good no not one so sinfull is man in his whole race sinfull in his conception he is conceived in sinne before ever hee sees light in this world when hee is covered with the rich hangings of natures wardrobe in his mothers womb then man tumbles in sinne as the word in the originall signifieth Hee is sinfull in his birth in his life in his thoughts his words and actions and shall he that is thus spotted and stained and polluted stand before the pure Judge of heaven and earth without trembling surely no The mightie the Kings of the earth the Captaines high and low of what condition soever as many as have not made their garments white in the bloud of the slaughtered Lambe Christ they shall tremble and flie to hide themselves and crie to the mountaines to cover them before the face of this glorious Judge Wee come now to the last thing and that is the end of Christs comming to Judgement The end of Christs comming you know is to give a reward And this reward shall be both to the wicked and to the godly for hee shall give the reward according to every mans worke First I will speake of the reward of the wicked And after conclude with the reward of the godly The reward of the wicked shall be endlesse woe and perpetuall miserie in hell There was never any man that descended into that fierie lake and returned thence to tell us what torments are provided for the wicked in Hell but yet as by one drop of the Sea water you may conceive of the saltnesse of the rest and as a man may ghesse at the stature of a Giant by the length of his foot even so wee may have some conceit of those endlesse and easelesse and remedilesse torments prepared for the wicked in hell by a taste of the miseries we have in this life Great may the griefe of a mans heart be even in this life as great as mortalitie is able to beare Can we read of the mourning of Ioseph of Hannah of Iob of Ieremie of Ierusalem and not bee moved our hearts are hard Can we reade of the hideous torments invented by Tyrants Caldrons of boyling oyle roasting upon spits tumbling downe Mountaines in barrels of nayles rending of joynts with horses can we reade of these mercilesse torments and not be moved our hearts are harder then a milstone Alas beloved these are nothing but shadowes but counterfeit to those torments that are prepared for the wicked in hell For though the bowels of hell labour to emptie the bowels of judgement yet shee hath an immeasurable portion for her children now living nay for those that are unborne a patrimonie of blacknesse of brimstone of the wrath of God of wailing and gnashing of teeth Certainly death shall take them away but they shall never die they shall consume for ever and yet shall not be consumed they shall be in fire unquenchable and yet see no light You may reade of the wine of giddinesse Psal. 60. 3. of a strange kind of Worme Isay ult of fire and brimstone Ezek. 38. 22. of the Wine-presse of Gods wrath Revel 14. 10. All these and if worse then these can be are prepared as so many torments for the wicked workers of iniquitie Their cuppe is the deadliest that ever was drunke even of Gods wrath wherewith they shall bee filled for ever their worme is that that continually gnawes upon the conscience they shall bee tormented in fire and brimstone before the Lambe and his Angels Not such as that of Sodome and Gomorrah for then there were hope that they might be converted at the last into heapes of Ashes or pooles of Pitch but such fire and brimstone that as a bottomlesse Mine gives them rest neither night nor day the smoake of it ascending for ever and is appointed for a time and times till time shall be no more Their torment in such a measure as neither eye hath seene nor eare heard nor heart of man hath conceived But beloved all this is but generall if the time would suffer we could shew the torments of the damned in particular as First the eternitie of those torments in that they shall never end and I verily perswade my selfe that this
death the hurt of temporall death we have escaped eternall death What is that a separation from the blessed presence and glory of God destruction of body and soule for ever unutterable torments companie with the Divell and his angels and the route of reprobates darknesse blacker and thicker then that of Egypt Weeping and wayling and gnashing of teeth in the infernall lake that worme that never dyes and the fire that never goeth out This is the wages of all sinne and that it is not rendred to all sinne and to all sinners the cause is only this that the payment hath beene already exacted of Christ in the behalfe of all true beleevers therefore in their owne persons they are discharged how infinitely are wee bound in thankfulnesse to him and how carefull should wee be to walke worthy of it resolving never to returne to the service of sinne againe but to make it our whole studie that wee may please and honour such a Redeemer that hath redeemed us from such miserie as this that wee may please him for we had deserved eternall death as well as others and hee hath not only freed us from that that wee had most worthily deserved but most freely also bestowed that upon us that we could never deserve for so it followes in the next point The gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. That is the second thing to bee considered the reward of the service of God You have heard of the reward the wages of sinne Now the reward of the service of God is eternall life it is called life There is a twofold life belongs to men The one is naturall and is common to all good and bad in this world The other spirituall proper to the faithfull begun by the union of God and the soule and maintained by the bond of the spirit and this life hath three degrees The first is in this life unto death and it begins when wee begin to believe and repent and come to a saving knowledge of God and of his Sonne Jesus Christ as it is said This is eternall life to know thee to be the very God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ Ioh. 17. 3. The second degree is from our death to our resurrection for in that time our soules being freed from our bodies are withall free from all sinne originall and actuall Thirdly after the Resurrection when body and soule shall bee reunited wee shall have immediate communion and fellowship with God and so enjoy a more perfect and blessed life then ever we could here And this spirituall life with all the three degrees of it is the life here spoken of especially the last degree the perfection of it in heaven It is called eternall life because it shall never end For a thing is said to be eternall three wayes First which hath neither beginning nor end so God alone is eternall and none but he Secondly which hath no beginning and yet shall have an end so Gods decree is eternall for it never had a beginning yet when all things decreed are fulfilled it shall have an end Thirdly which hath a beginning but never shall have end and so the life of Gods Saints had a beginning as all created things have butit shall never have an end and this eternall life it is called here The gift of God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Because wee cannot deserve it but it is given and bestowed on us freely for Christ. So then the point of observation from the latter part of the words is this that Our salvation it is the free gift of God given us onely for the merits of Christ. For observe I beseech you the Apostles words when hee had sayd The wayes of sinne is death hee doth not adde and say but the wages of righteousnesse is eternall life but he calls that the gift of God To make us understand saith Damascene that God brings us to eternall life meerely for his owne mercie not for our merits orelse surely the Apostle would have made the later part of the sentence answerable to the former But here perhaps some may aske why eternall life should not be the wages of righteousnesse as well as death the wages of sinne I answer because there is not the same reason betweene sinne and righteousnesse For first sinne is our owne it merits it but rigteousnesse is none of our owne it is the holy Ghosts and it is due to God Then againe sinne is perfectly evill and so it deserves death but our righteousnesse inherent is not perfectly good it is imperfect in this life and nothing that is imperfectly good can merit as wages eternall life therefore the Apostle makes such a manifest difference between them he calls death the wages of sin but eternall life the gift of God it is the free gift of God through Christ. Indeed eternall life some times many times in Scripture is called a reward But there is a reward of mercie as well as of justice Nay God is sayd sometimes to reward his children injustice How is that Though the reward come originally from mercy yet accidentally it comes to be justice thus because God hath tyed himselfe by promise to reward now promise is debt from a just man Thus the Lord may be accounted a debtor How saith Saint Austin as a promiser if hee had not promised eternall life otherwise hee owes us nothing at all much lesse eternall life which is so great a thing Yet it may be doubted how eternall life is the free gift of God seeing it is given for the merits of Christ as it is here exprest the gift of God through Iesus Christ our Lord that is for the merits of Christ now a man that gives a thing upon merit hee gives it not freely I answer it is free in respect of us whatsoever Christ hath done we did not merit it If it be replyed Christs merits are made ours and wee merit in him and so it cannot be free I answer this reason were of force if wee our selves could procure the merits of Christ for us but that we could not doe but that also was of free gift Ioh. 3. God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that he that beleeves in him should not perish hee gave him freely of free gift so that though eternall life be due to us by the merits of Christ yet it is the free gift of God I wil stand no longer in proving the truth of the Doctrine I come to the application and use to conclude with the time First it serves to confute our adversaries of the Church of Rome in the point of merit They looke for heaven and eternall life as wages wee see the Apostle teacheth us otherwise that eternall life is not given in that manner but another manner of way It is not given as wages it is the
must be restored God is the Lord of life and whether we are willing or not when he calls the comfort and we must part and in this respect a man who wants a lively faith may acquit himselfe in a triall when hee sees that floods of teares will not help him specially when he sees it is past recovery he resignes up a comfort when he can keepe it no longer hee will part with a blessing when hee cannot avoid iâ—… But then there is a pious acquitting of our selves when God calls for a comfort backe the hand of Faith presents the comfort to God againe when God calls for Isaac Abraham presently resignes up his beloved Sonne againe upon this ground God is the Lord who gave him and now the Lord calls for him backe againe I and the Lord shall have him thus Faith acquits the soule in great triall and joynes with God against all our owne contentments to set downe with much patience in great losses to submit to Gods call and Gods appointment Now the reasons why Faith can acquit a man in great trialls may be these First Faith can exalt Gods will above all and submit our wills to Gods will remember this God is the Authour of mercy when he will he gives us and when hee pleaseth hee takes it away againe It is well to have abundance saith nature and sence we cannot be without it no saith Faith I will yeeld to Gods will it is good to enjoy this saith Sence it is better to part with it saith Faith when God calls for it Secondly Faith can give God the glory of all outward comforts this is a great occasion of stilling our soules to find out the right owner of ourcomforts if a man did once discerne that by faith that God is the Authour of all comfort and that all mercyes come from God this would make us submit in the day of triall this is certaine God is the God of our bodyes and of our soules and of our comforts who hath more right to possession then the owner all our comforts are but Gods servants God is the great Land-Lord of heaven and earth the God of all our possessions what if hee be pleased to gather a flower wee are but tenantsat will and whatsoever our outward estate is Faith overlookes all and submits all to God and receives it by Gods permission and doth as it were heare the Lord say I must doe what I will with mine owne Faith makes a man say nothing is mine owne my Child is not mine owne my Wife is not mine owne it is Gods possession when God calls for it Faith resignes it up as Gods due faith renders unto God the things that are Gods Thirdly Faith can make the soule acquit it selfe in great trials because faith findes no losse by obedienciall submission for all our unwillingnesse to resigne up and to part with any comfort it doth arise from infidelitie or from the stubbornnesse that is in a person when a man haves and holds his comfort contrary to Gods will or else it doth arise from a conceit that some dammage will redound to our selves in parting with such a blessing but faith sees safety enough to yeeld up all into Gods hands who is the Father of mercy and God of all consolation Thus we see Abraham being put to it about his only sonne he gives up his child his Isaac and God bestowes Isaac upon Abraham againe nay a further degree of blessing confirmed with an oath In blessing I will blesse thee and in multiplying I will multiply thee and will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven This is ever true faith makes a man give back a blessing with this conclusion either God will continue the comfort to a person or else he wil give him more or a better for it Fourthly a fourth reason why Faith can make a man acquit himselfe in great trialls because Faith can find all losses made up in God alone Faith can find God as a most ample and universall good Faith doth looke upon God as a particular good and such a good that answers all againe that abundantly makes up all losses There be many broken peeces of comfort that must concurre to make up our outward good for our good here below is a compounded good the Wife is a part that makes up our good below and our children are a part that makes up our good below and our health and our riches and our friends many of these concurre together to make up our good below but God is all this in himselfe and much more whatsoever good whatsoever comforts are in a Child a Wife a Husband or in friends in riches in health all that is in God and much more to faith what is that thou seest in a Husband or in a Wife or in a Child that thou mayest not see in God What is that thou findest in a friend that thou mayest not findin God and what is there in riches that thou mayest not have much more in God the Husband can doe thee no good without God who can doe thee so much good as God the Husband can comfort thee who can comfort thee so much as God a friend may counsell thee and direct thee but hee cannot deliver thee Faith sees more in God then in riches more in God then in all outward blessings bring all the outward comforts together they cannot make up a Christians comfort Faith is never satisfied with these things it is not a Child alone nor a Husband alone nor a Wife alone nor a friend alone that makes up a Christians comfort but God alone can doe it whatsoever is in any outward comfort Faith findes it much more in God God and his favour God and his gracious countenance these make up a Christians comfort this alone supports the Christian and in the want of all things Faith can comfort it selfe in the favour of God in the losse of all things Faith can find all againe in the favour of God This is a fourth reason why Faith makes a man acquit himselfe in great Tryalls A fift reason why Faith makes a man acquit himselfe in great troubles because Faith knowes upon what tearmes wee possesse all these outward comforts upon what small grounds wee possesse them upon moveable and changeable titles Faith lookes upon all these things as upon things that hee must part from we have here no abiding Citie our place and bâ—…ing here is but for a short time and remember this God never bestoweth any comfort upon thee or mee with an assurance of an immortall possession all the assurance that he hath given thee is nothing all the creature is but vanity it is of a shifting nature and therefore it is said of riches that they doe take to themselves wings they skippe away honour is soone gone riches are soone gone the life of man is soone gone the life of man is but a breath a vapour which is presently consumed
Widow shee is dead while shee liveth even so are all such dead while they live dead in sinnes and trespasses and if so be those that are in this kind dead continue so till the death of the body seize upon them woe woe woe to them upon this followeth an eternall death endlesse easelesse and remedilesse torment upon body and soule for ever Thirdly the Saints have here consolation against the mortalitie and corruption whereto they are subject here in this world wherein their condition is common with the condition of all for that that befalleth one may befall every one in regard of the outward estate and condition All must die Nay further here is consolation against the distresses and afflictions and pressures whereto the Saints are subject above others for their profession sake in this very respect they are hated they are persecuted all that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution and through many afflictions wee must enter into the kingdome of heaven Where is now their comfort surely this that is set before us you heard that naturall men are dead while they live but those that are in Christ doe live while they may seeme to bee dead Ionah lived when he was cast into the Sea swallowed up by a whale and was even as it were in hell so the Saints though swallowed up as wee may say in the tempestuous sea of this world by cruell Whales yet notwithstanding they still live that life that is begun here in this world whereof you heard before And to this purpose the Apostle Saint Paul in 2 Cor. 4. 8 9 10 11 12. sheweth plainly that though they are given up unto death daily for Iesus sake yet they are not destroyed not cleane swallowed up but that they live in Christ and that Christ liveth in them Wee are perplexed but not in despaire persecuted but not forsaken c. And this is it that doth comfort them both the fruition of that life that they have here and their expectation of the accomplishment and fulnesse thereof in the kingdome of heaven Now my brethren this is the rather to be observed of us because of all others the Saints seeme to be most subject to death And the truth is here is matter of admiration in regard of their happinesse that notwithstanding that condition whereto they are subject there is a life they enjoy in this world there is a better life prepared for them hereafter And what can be more desired Life of all things else is most esteemed Men are ready in sicknesse and in other distresses to spend all that they have as the Woman that was troubled with the bloudie issue spent all that shee had upon the Physitians to preserve life to recover health Solomon speaking according to the conceit of men saith that a living Dogge is better than a dead Lyon any life better then a death thus they imagine and Sathan well knew mens account of life when he could say Skin for skin yea all that a man hath will hee give for his life Now if so bee that this temporall life here that is but a flower but a bubble but a blast but a breath yea that life that in the shortnesse thereof is subject to so much perplexitie as it is be notwithstanding so highly esteemed what is the life here promised that while here in the enjoying in regard of the first fruits thereof is accompanied with such a peace as passeth understanding accompanied with the very joy of the Holy Ghost and in the consummation thereof such contentment such glory as the tongue of man cannot expresse the mind of man cannot conceive It is noted of the Apostle Saint Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven and saw but a glimpse of this life he did there see they are his owne words unutterable matter things that cannot bee exprest And therefore in this respect he saith and that which he saith may be most fitly applyed to this the things which eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither hath entred into the heart of man are such as God hath prepared for them that love him This is that Life which we are so to consider of as it may make us say with the Apostle I account that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to bee compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glory It will be here said whence commeth this or what may bee the ground thereof My Text telleth you It is stiled here Grace of Life Neither will I here insist upon the divers acceptations of grace as it is in man as it is Gratis data or as it is in God as it is Gratis faciens making us accepted with himselfe It is more cleare then need to be proved that eternall life it commeth from divine grace Grace is the ground of it Being justified by grace saith the Apostle and againe by Grace you are saved And indeed all things that bring us thereto are in the Scriptures attributed to Grace And needs must it be so For First out of God there can be nothing done to move him to doe this or that as if it should be done for our sakes either meriting or procuring of it Hee is independant and we are depending upon him and whatsoever wee have is out of our selves and commeth from him Againe in Man there can be nothing What is there in man but miserie whatsoever man had or hath if there be any good thing he hath it from this fountaine of goodnesse all our sufficiencie is of God And this is briefly to be noted against that proud and arrogant position of our Adversaries concerning the merit of mans workes as if man by any thing in him could merit or deserve this life it is not the merit of life but the grace of life Surely they know not God they know not his infinitenesse his all-sufficiencie they know not man his emptinesse his impotencie his vilenesse his cursednesse they know not this life they know not the reward the excellencie of it the disproportion betweene any thing that man can doe and this life that is thus graciously bestowed that have such a conceit Let them therefore passe with their foolish opinion For our owne parts it affordeth to us another ground of comfort and that in regard of our unworthinesse for as we are creatures we are lesse then the least of Gods mercies but as we are mortall creatures dust and ashes much more unworthy of any favour but as we are sinfull creatures having provoked the justice of God most most unworthy of any grace of any life most worthy of all judgements and vengeance of eternall death and damnation Where is now our hope what ground shall wee have that have nothing in
your selves with these things And particularly concerning the Female sex because the Apostle here applieth it to them and saith of them as well as of men that they are heires Co-heires of the same inheritance this therefore is to be applied to them for when the Apostle makes distinction of outward conditions in Gal. 3. 28. hee putteth in this Male and Female and of these and those hee saith all are one in Christ no difference for the Female at first were made after the same Image that the Male were Hee made them Male and Female in his owne Image Gen. 1. 27. Both sorts have the same Saviour and are Redeemed by the same price A woman said My soule rejoyceth in God my Saviour they are both sanctified by the same Spirit the Apostle saith that when an unbeleeving Husband is knit to a beleeving Wife the husband is sanctified by the wife as well as in the other case the Wife is sanctified by the Husband And this my brethren giveth a checke to the undue the unjust censure that many doe give to this weaker vessell that this Sex is as it were the imperfection of nature and I know not what I will not stand upon it as most unworthy the confutation But for the Sex it selfe it is a particular consolation against that matter of griefe which it might conceive through Eves first sinne not onely in sinning her selfe but in taking Sathans part to tempt her Husband whereupon followed subjection to the Man and likewise paine in travell and bringing forth of children But notwithstanding saith the Apostle of that Sex they shall bee saved if they continue in faith and charitie and holinesse with sobrietie So that you see they have a right too And the truth is that God hath graciously dealt with them in making them the meanes of bringing forth the principall ground of this right of the one and of the other which is the Lord of life the Saviour of the world who was borne of a Woman Now this Sex is to comfort themselves in this that notwithstanding there bee some differences in outward condition yet they are made partakers of the greatest and best priviledge alike joynt heires of the grace of God I find but two things that in Scripture are exempted from that Sex two priviledges one to have jurisdiction over the Husband another publikely to teach in the Church of God But yet notwithstanding marke a kind of recompence made for this The former is but particular betweene Husband and Wife but in lieu thereof a Woman may reigne over many men yea over Nations Queenes shall bee thy nursing mothers saith the Prophet Isaiah to the Church And for the later to recompence that they may bee and have beene endued with the gift of prophesie so that wee see how God doth every manner of way incourage them One word more concerning men and so I will conclude this point Namely admonition to them answerably to respect the other Sex as those that are Co-heires with them and therefore while they live according to their places according to their gifts according to the bond of relation that is betweene them to respect them and to shew the same when they are dead by a decent comely Funerall and maintaining their credit and giving of them their due praises Thus much for the Text. And now my brethren give mee leave I beseech you to steppe a little further and to speake a word concerning this object before mee Howsoever I am not over-forward at any time to speake much on such occasions yet at this time I suppose I should doe much wrong to the partie in concealing those things that are meete to be made knowne to the honour of that God who bestowed those excellent endowments upon her and also injurie to those that knew her I doe not feare to be accounted a flatterer by any that heare mee and if any else shall imagine any such thing it may it must needs bee their envie in that they censure what they know not My feare is lest those that did know her should thinke that wrong is done to her by that little that shall be spoken for enough cannot be spoken of her You see here a blacke Herse before you a body in it deprived of life and within these few dayes animated by a divine soule now as we have just cause to beleeve glorified in heaven The body of Mistris I. R. in regard of Mariage being the Daughter of Master I. B. a Gentleman in C. It seemed that as God endowed her with excellent parts every way so shee had good education Shee was married to Master I. R. a grave prudent man that lived in the fore-named place who had beene twice Major there and long continued Alderman still relyed upon when any matter of employment was to bee performed and therefore oft chosen to be a Burgesse of the Parliament out of that Corporation In the beginning of her mariage shee attending to the Word as Lydia did God was pleased to open her heart and that specially under the Ministrie of a reverend Pastour now some yeares with God faithfull painfull powerfull in his place while he lived who yet liveth in the many workes hee published in his life time I say by his Ministrie being wrought upon she wonderfully improved the grace that was so wrought in her and used all meanes for the growth thereof by continuall applying her selfe to the publike ministrie of the Word conscionably on the Lords day frequently also on other dayes both in that Citie and in this also whither she came oftentimes upon sundrie imployments both while her Husband lived and likewise since she hath beene a Widow which hath beene about the space of five yeares Now I say as shee did thus helpe on the growth of grace by this publike meanes so also by private diligently reading the Word not contenting her selfe with a coursorie reading it over by taske as some doe but shee had a Paper booke by her and in reading would note downe particular points note speciall duties that belonged to such and such persons to Magistrates to Ministers to Husbands to Wives to Masters to servants Generall duties that belonged to Christians as they were Christians and that in such a manner as if so bee they had beene the Common places of some young Divine And here by the way let me tell you what my selfe have seene of an Alderman of this Citie some while dead who left behind him Volumes of bookes written with his owne hand his manner was first he would reade and after that he would walke up and downe and meditate upon what he read and write downe the summe and particulars of it as he conceived by which meanes hee made himselfe excellently skilfull as in Divine so in humane learning Thus did this grave Matron hereby she came to much knowledge shee gathered also many signes whereby she had evidence of the truth of grace and
these things shew that thou art Gods servant and that by Death the Lord will draw thee to a place of rest If these thoughts which I have now named bee strangers to thy heart and thou dost not love to trouble thy selfe to studie about Death it is an evill signe The servants of God are not wont to be so secure in matters of this qualitie And thus much for the first particular in the first generall part the desire in the godly of death the second is their care for it the point thence is that It is the care of Gods servants to bee alwayes so prepared for death as at what instant soever the Lord shall send it they may bee comfortably ready to entertaine it So much may easily be gathered out of Simeons words here Nunc dimittis Now let thy servant depart He did not as it were take a day over in which and against which to be provided as though he should have said Lord now will I settle my selfe to make provision for my last end but even now Lord at this very instant if thou wilt Death hath beene my ordinary meditation and if thou wilt now call me home to thee I am ready to depart As in the former point I shewed you how Saint Pauls longing agreed with Simeons Oh let thy servant depart saith Simeon I desire to bee dissolved saith Paul So here I will shew you that there was the same care in respect of Death in Saint Paul as in Simeon Now if thou wilt saith Simeon I am now ready to bee offered saith Saint Paul And else-where I die daily I am ever thinking upon death and daily making provision for my end This was holy Iobs mind All the dayes of my appointed time will I waite till my change come there was a continuall expectation So teach us to number our dayes prayeth Moses that wee may apply our hearts to wisedome And what wisedome did hee wish hee might apply his heart unto but this a holy care to make provision for another world seeing in this there was no continuance The same in effect the Authour to the Hebrewes professeth touching himselfe and those that were like to him that they had here no continuing Citie but did seeke one to come Wee know saith he here is no abiding wee dwell in tents which must remove in houses of clay which will be broken therefore wee desire to bee ever ready for that place which is of more perpetuitie And so much may bee gathered from that which is upon record concerning Ioseph of Arimathea he did not onely make ready his Tombe in his life-time but in his garden his place of solace and delight and how could so good a man so often thinke on death without labouring and caring to be ever provided for the same and therefore our Saviour Christ compares his faithfull servants unto those which daily wait for their Masters comming Now the reason which so much prevailes with the godly in this particular and which ought to be of sufficient force with every one is first the certaintie and uncertaintie of death Morte nihil certius As sure as Death is an ordinary Proverbe What man is hee that liveth and shall not see death saith the Psalmist That all must die it is Heavens decree and cannot be revoked The thing it selfe we see is most certaine yet for some circumstances most uncertaine for first Tempus est incertum No man knowes when he shall die in the night or in the day in Winter or in Summer in youth or in his latter age Secondly Locus est incertus None know where they shall die whether at home or abroad in his bed or in the field who knowes but that he may die in the Church of God even while he is asleepe at the Word Thirdly Mortis genus est incertum No man can determine how hee shall die whether suddenly or by a lingring sicknesse whether violently or by a naturall course These things the servants of God know full well and seriously weigh the same and that makes them to make conscience of continuall preparation that whensoever or wheresoever or howsoever they die they may with comfort commend their soules into the hand of God as into the hand of a faithfull Creatour Secondly they know the miserie of being taken by Death unprepared put case a man should die as Ishbosheth lying upon his bed at noone or as Iobs children while they are feasting or that a man like the rich man in the Gospell should have his breath taken from him at the very instant having made no provision for another world what hope can there be that such a one should be saved They know thirdly that the time of sicknesse is the most unfit time for this businesse of preparation the senses are then so taken up with the paine of sicknesse that a man cannot thinke seriously upon ought else and besides it is not in our owne power to turne to God when we will ordinarily God forgets those in sicknesse that forget him in health And it is commonly seene that that preparation for Death that begins but in sicknesse is as languishing and faint as is the partie from whom it comes And although Vera poenitentia bee nunquam sera yet sera poenitentia est rarò vera Though I say true repentance bee never to late yet late repentance is seldome true when men leave their sinnes because they can continue to practise them no longer what thankes have they or what can that repentance be These things worke with Gods servants to studie to be ever ready for the Lord not to delay preparation but to seeke continually to be provided My Exhortation hence shall begin with that speech of Moses Oh that men would be wise to understand this and that they would consider their later end I would there were a heart in us to entertaine this doctrine in our best thoughts I remember the Complaint of old that men had made a Covenant with Death and were at agreement with Hell Death indeed will make truce with no man but here is the meaning Evill men perswade themselves that they are in no danger of hell or of the grave Death will not come yet thinketh the oldest man and when it comes I hope I shall doe well enough thinketh the most godlesse man Thus men couzen themselves with their owne fancies and so Death steales upon them at unawares and becomes Gods Sergeant to arrest them and to carry them away to eternall condemnation Who amongst us is able to say truly and upon good ground as Simeon Now Lord if thou wilt now command Death to seize upon mee welcome shall it be unto me I am even now ready to receive it How many are there that are extraordinary ignorant in the meanes how to escape the sting of Death How many extreamly secure that never in their lives yet thought earnestly
assurance that the sting of Death is plucked out that Gods wrath is appeased that sinne is pardoned that Heaven gate is opened whence shall wee fetch these but from the Scripture the directions for a holy life which is the best preparation for Death where shall we find them but in the Scripture Here then we see is a Caveat to all that have no will nor desire to be acquainted with the Scripture Divers thinke they should have done well enough though wee had no such Booke as we call the word of God To bee a Scripture-man is a by-word a reproach a matter of disgrace and sooner will men listen to some idle Pamphlet then to a matter of Scripture Well beguile not your soules with these vaine conceipts with your Popish and carnall imaginations I say and testifie from this place that that man or woman which careth not to be taught out of Gods booke cannot die like a Christian Who can teach thee the way to dye well but God And where doth God teach but in the Scripture If our thoughts of Death if our provision and preparation for Death be not warranted and guided by Gods word it is all in vaine Lord saith Simeon my desire of dissolution is according to thy Word my care to be prepared hath beene ordered by thy Word hee cannot die with comfort that cannot make the like profession And this may serve for the next generall part the the ground of this desire and preparation for Death it is Gods word Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart according to thy Word The third and last part followes the nature and qualitie of the death of the Righteous A departure in peace or a peaceable dismission Here are two things first a dismission secondly a dismission accompanied with peace The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Let thy servant depart may well be Englished thus Let thy servant loose Lord free mee enlarge mee set mee at libertie Hence wee learne that The servants of God doe by Death receive a finall discharge from all manner of miserie This is evident out of the force of the phrase here used Simeon knew that so long as hee lived his soule was as it were imprisoned in his body and in it hee was held in bondage under the remnants of Originall corruption subject to the assaults and temptations of Satan in continuall and daily possibilitie to trespasse and sinne against God beside other afflictions and grievances in the body and estate but hee had withall this knowledge and understanding of the nature of Death that it was an enlargement to the soule and a freeing of it utterly and finally from all those and the like incumbrances The same may be gathered from the phrase used by Saint Paul I desire saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee dissolved and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read the time of my departure the words shew that there comes a liberty by death to the soules of Gods servants The phrase that Saint Peter useth is worthy our observation for this purpose First hee tearmes death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the laying downe of a burden and by that meanes the soule is lightned and eased Secondly he tearmes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a going out from a place and condition of hardship The second booke of Moses which relates the departure of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage hath the same name Exodus As for the point it selfe namely that the death of the Righteous is to them a discharge from all miserie the Scripture beares witnesse to it Blessed said he are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours As long as they live here they are diversly troubled when they die their labours are at an end and they are received into rest Saint Iohn tells us that in his vision he saw the soules of them that were slaine lye under the Altar Now the Altar in the time of the Law was a place of refuge and safetie and thence it appeares that by death the servants of God are eft-soones received into a place of holy securitie where there is no expectation of any further miserie They are said to be received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into Abrahams bosome into the fellowship of the same happinesse with Abraham the Father of all true beleevers The Doctrine in the first place makes against those of the Church of Rome which maintaine a place of torment even for the servants of God after this life where they must bee tryed for a time before they can enter into Rest and happinesse This place they terme Purgatorie the torment here they hold to bee unspeakable and farre surpassing any torment which the wit of man is able to devise But this place among others is sufficient to overthrow this dotage for how were death to the Righteous a dismission a loosing a freedome from miserie if there followed after it a torment of farre greater extremitie then at any time before was ever tasted of So that the death of the servants of God being as I have proved it to bee an enlargement from misery certainly the soule is not bound in any new Prison whence it must expect and await and pray for a second dismission In the next place this Doctrine makes much for the comfort of Gods servants the face of Death to the wicked is very dreadfull the day of it is to them the beginning of sorrowes their soules are instantly arrested by the damned spirits and kept in everlasting chaines of darknesse but to those that are the servants of God it is otherwise I may by way of allusion to the phrase of my Text compare their day unto that which happened unto Ioseph in which hee was brought out of prison to bee Ruler over all the land of Egypt So is their death unto them a day of Bailement out of prison a day in which all teares shall be wiped away In which they shall have beauty for ashes and the oyle of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse and the long white robes of Christs Righteousnesse by which they shall be presented blamelesse unto God That day shall be to them even as was the day of escape to the Jewes a feast and a good day in which they shall see God as hee is and know him as they are knowne of him But hapily thou maist say how shall I know that the day of Death is the day of dissolution and this kind of dismission A very necessary quaere indeed this is for every man almost is ready to challenge to himselfe a part of this happinesse and it is a matter presumed upon by many which shall never enjoy it I will therefore give you one certaine marke by which wee may know assuredly that the day of our death shall be to us a day of enlargement and of finall discharge
hell out of sorrow and angvish and tentation hee raiseth out their greatest quiet Secondly because the love of God is eternall and unchangeable Whom hee loves hee loves to the end It is unpossible that the Lord albeit he trie and that sharply yet should finally forsake those that are his in their greatest extremitie But againe secondly if you make a peaceable death to bee the reward of the Righteous what say you to this There bee many that in all their life gave little evidence of any Religion or grace but of the contrary rather yet in their death were very quiet and still and seemed to all that were by to have in them no manner of vexation no troublesome thoughts no perplexed motions shall wee say that these were good men because they seemed to goe away in peace It is true indeed it is the common opinion Doth a man lye quietly hath hee his memorie to the end died he like a Lambe surely then hee is gone to heaven but this is an absurd colection for First sometime this outward calmenesse is an ordinary consequent of some diseases as Consumptions and such like by which Nature being formerly weakned hath not power left to make resistance Secondly this outward calmenesse is no argument of a peaceable and quiet soule The Psalmist tells us of the wicked in whose death there are no bands Thirdly wee must distinguish betweene securitie and peace betwixt carnall senslesnesse and true spirituall quietnesse Nabals death was quiet enough yet hee were but a foole that would adventure his soule with Nabals I see many ignorant persons many of heathenish and brutish conversation very quiet in sicknesse without any feare of hell and judgement to come making no doubts casting no perills asking no questions complaining of no sinnes and so away they goe without any more adoe What shall I say that these died in true peace God forbid No when I compare together their ignorant secure benummed hardned kind of life with their senslesse and drowsie kind of death I must say that these are fearefull signes these things argue that the Divill had quiet possession where hee made so small adoe Thus then notwithstanding these Objections I will conclude that a peacefull death is the peculiar and individed priviledge of Gods servants However it be yet I know saith Solomon that it shall goe well with those that feare the Lord but there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Wee may make Use of this first to be a tryall betwixt our Religion and the Romish for from this Doctrine I avouch that Religion to be no true Religion because a Papist by the Rules of his owne Religion can never die in peace This is a hard saying thou maist object or how can I make it good I answer by two reasons First every Papist is taught to beleeve under paine of Anathema and the great curse that whosoever dyeth if hee have not in this life attained to perfection and throughly purged himselfe from the remainders of sinne by workes of satisfaction his soule must after death goe into Purgatory and there continue untill hee hath made a full satisfaction now the paine of Purgatorie is held for the time to bee as great as the paines of hell differing onely in this that it is not perpetuall Now I would faine know how can a man die comfortably and in peace and with a joyfull heart when hee thinkes with himselfe that albeit perhaps after some yeares hee shall goe to heaven yet in the meane space his soule must goe into such a place of unspeakable torment where if the matter be not well plyed by the prayers of them that are alive and by well feeing the Priests they may hap to lye for many yeares I say how can the Doctrine of Popery beget a peacefull death when it teacheth an expectation of such an hellish Purgatory Secondly every Papist as he is bound of a certaine to beleeve a Purgatory so further must he beleeve that hee cannot in this life be assured of salvation otherwise then by a kind of confused hope which may deceive him Now hee which by the witnesse of his owne conscience is sure that hee hath deserved hell and cannot attaine to any certaintie of discharge what comfort can such an one have to dye hee knowes that when hee is dead he must come to his account before God but yet can have no assurance that the Lord will acquit him in Christ Jesus I wish that this may seriously be considered by us for the establishing of us in the truth of Religion I say againe and testifie these reasons which I have alledged being weighed that a Papist by his owne doctrine can never expect that which Simeon did a departure hence in peace He knowes he must to torment he is taught that he cannot know in this world that God will pardon him In the next place let us come neerer home to our selves that we must all dye nothing more certaine Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne God hath decreed it and it cannot bee revoked if our end be not peaceable our estate after cannot bee happy Let our care then be spent about this one point how one may attaine to this to end our dayes in peace I doubt not but wee will all bee ready to say we hope so to doe but this is nothing for when the wicked man dyeth his expectation perisheth What becomes of the hope of the Hypocrite said Iob when God takes away his soule But what course then shall wee take that wee may finish our course with joy I will tell thee in few words I touched it a little before the best meanes for a peaceable departure is a godly and religious life I have fought the good fight saith Saint Paul and he could comfortably from thence inferre that therefore there was laid up for him a crowne of righteousnesse It was Christs owne inference I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the worke which thou gavest mee to doe and therefore now O Father glorifie thou mee with thine owne selfe The reason of it is first Gods promise blessed shall bee the undefiled in the way Those that honour mee I will honour said God Now this promise God will not breake He that goeth this way though it be with much weaknesse with many falls with sundry imperfections with divers wandrings yet he cannot misse of the promised peace Secondly life eternall hath three degrees the first is in this life when a man repenteth and beleeveth and is purged from dead workes to serve the living God The second is in death when the body goes to earth and the spirit returnes to him that gave it The third is at the last judgement These three degrees hang together like three linkes the second followeth the first and the third the two former the last cannot be hoped for where
sinne and corruption still remaine upon the sould Indeed as soone as the Spirit of grace quickens the soule the soule presently hates all sinne and begins to shake off these fetters of sinne and corruption and shakes them off by little and little but I say it shakes them not off all at once In this spirituall Resurrection sinne indeed receives a deadly wound but yet it is not wholly abolished In the spirituall Resurrection sinne is like a beast whose throat is cut that lies striving and strugling for life so sinne hath life in it but yet it hath a deadly wound therefore remember to thy comfort that that will bee true here betweene the power of grace and the remainders of sinne that is affirmed of the house of Saul and the house of David 2 Sam. 3. 1. there was long warre betweene them But the house of David grew stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker So it will be betweene sinne and grace sinne will grow weaker and weaker and grace stronger and stronger But yet the weake Christian may object further but I feele the spirit so weake in me and the flesh so strong in me that I am afraid the flesh will prevaile and so I shall returne againe to my naturall estate To this I answer remember that this is contrarie to the nature of a true Resurrection to returne to death againe for at the last Resurrection the bodyes that are raised shall be immortall never to die againe so here those soules that are quickned to the life of grace they are raised to a durable immutable immortall estate never to die againe That which Christ saith of those that shall bee accounted worthie to attaine the second Resurrection the Resurrection of the body it is true here also hee saith those that shall be accounted worthy of the world to come of the Resurrection to life they shall never die for they are as the Angels of heaven Luke 20. 35 36. Those that partake of that Resurrection can never die so here those that partake of this spirituall Resurrection to the life of grace they shall never die this Resurrection to the life of grace it shall continue in them For the Spirit of grace when he once commeth into the soule and quickens it it continues there and remaines there for ever it is as a Well of water springing up to eternall life as Christ speakes Ioh. 4. 14. Whosoever shall drinke of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall bee in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life Now wee know a streame of water is of a vanishing nature yet if it bee nourished with a continuall Fountaine that can never be drie the streame will continually runne so it is with the streame of grace in the soule it is nourished with a continuall fountaine such a one as can never be dried up Thus you see here is comfort against sinne against the death of the soule Those that are united to Christ by faith they may be assured that Christ will be to them a Fountaine of spirituall life Secondly here is comfort against the death of the body against naturall death If thou be united to Christ thou needest not to feare temporall death remember that though the body bee dead beecause of sinne yet the spirit is life as it is Rom. 8. 10. The body that is dead that is it is mortall and subject to death because of sinne but the spirit the soule that liveth it passeth from the life of grace here to the life of glorie Yea and the body too that is laid in the Grave notwithstanding shall be raised againe by the quickning power of Christ. Remember Christ is thy head and therefore hee being risen from the dead thou shalt not perish You know as long as the head of the naturall body is above the water none of the members of the body can be drowned so it is here as long as Christ is risen none of his members can be held captive in the Grave Remember Christ is the first fruites of the dead the first fruites of them that sleepe therefore his Resurrection may bee a pledge and an assurance to thee of thy resurrection As wee have borne the Image of the earthly saith the Apostle so wee shall beare the Image of the heavenly 1 Cor. 15. 49. As wee have borne about us these corruptible bodyes so when we rise againe we shall rise with immortall and incorruptible bodies and live a glorious life with Christ and so be made conformable to Christ our head therefore feare not the death of the body Remember that Death can destroy nothing in thee but sinne therefore feare not This consideration may comfort us as against our owne death so against the death of our friends Let us therefore receive comfort hence as Martha in this Chapter I know that my brother shall rise againe in the Resurrection at the last day and that did comfort her But here this question may bee demanded but is not this Resurrection of the body a benefit common to the wicked are not they partakers of this benefit from the resurrection of Christ as well as the godly shall not they be raised and quickned as well as the godly by Christ his Resurrection To this I answer that this Resurrection of the body to life it is a benefit proper to the faithfull to the true members of Christ for though unbeleevers and wicked persons shall bee raised up againe yet By a different cause And to a different end I say first by a different cause the wicked that are out of Christ cannot have any benefit from the Resurrection of Christ because they are out of Christ therefore they shall bee raised indeed but not by a quickning power flowing from the resurrection of Christ but by the divine power and command of Christ as a just Judge and they shall bee raised by vertue of that curse pronounced in Paradice Gen. 2. In the day thou eatest thou shalt die the death that includes eternall death therefore this curse must be executed upon them and therefore they most rise out of the Grave againe that body and soule may die eternally but the faithfull members of Christ shall bee raised by the quickning power of Christ as their head and Saviour Againe as the wicked shall be raised by a different cause so to a different end for they shall not be raised to life to speake properly that state is stiled eternall death therefore their Resurrection is stiled the resurrection of condemnation Ioh. 5. 27. they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life and they that have done ill to the resurrection of condemnation they shall not rise to life but to eternall death but the godly only shall attaine this Resurrection of life and therefore they only are stiled the sonnes of
yeares yet it is but a naturall life a life full of miserie a life exposed to many vexations and disquiets a life that hath so many troubles in it that men in the best estate of health wish sometimes that they were dead through disquiets and troubles and yet for the preservation of a troublesome life if you were sure of that you would lose a member I know when we come and speake of renouncing your former wayes your covetousnesse and prophanenesse and pride and vanitie and wickednesse in any kinde wee speake of cutting off of hands of members of the bodie they are so deare therefore Christ saith If thy hand offend thee cut it off if thine eye offend thee pull it out it is better to goe to heaven with one hand then to hell with both This I say I know you apprehend it a hard lesson there is no life no Christ without such a death to sinne Yet it is a truth and a necessarie truth for you to know and therefore consider it and that seriously what you lose If we come and perswade you to cut off some usefull member yet you yeeld to that for a naturall life you will cut off a hand that is as usefull as any member of the body but we bid you cut off superfluous members those needlesse members the members of sinne that will be your death Wee would have you but to be rid of the Ulcer that is all we would have you deprived of to preserve spirituall life and to live to God If I were to speake for a naturall life it were but temporall it were but upon conjecture but we speake for a life upon certaintie When wee perswade you to die to sinne that you may live to God wee assure you that this will certainly follow on it you shall live to God if sinne die in you and we speake not only upon certaintie but for eternitie too you shall doe it for eternitietoo you shall doe it for eternitie it is not a life that ends Nay wee speake for a life wherein there is true happinesse that hath no mixture of miserie to make you wearie but a life that hath perfect peace and joy a life that hath blessednesse begun and shall have blessednesse perfected in heaven this life we perswade you to live Consider now what we say if there were more you shall live to God the more you die to sin Skin for skin saith Iob and all that a man hath he will give for his life but if it be such a life as this to live to God a spirituall life what to live as the Angels doe that live with God! to live as the Saints in Heaven that live in the fruition and sight of God wherein they are blessed such a life we perswade you to A life infinitely above this if this life had all the contentment the earth could give it it were not worthy to be compared though a man might live a thousand yeares in the confluence and abundance of all prosperitie it were not to be compared with one moment of the happinesse of the spirituall life that we shall live in for all eternitie with Christ. Now consider take things and compare them together here is such a particular sinne that I was given to to pride to covetousnesse to prophanenesse to wickednesse of this sort or of that sort if I goe on in it I die eternally I lose God and heaven and my soule and happinesse what shall I get by this when I have done it I gratifie Satan I destroy my soule I have lost my selfe and am undone for ever And what a madnesse is this for a man to venture the eternall ruine and destruction of himselfe and that for a thing of nothing for that that will make him miserable now and more miserable eternally Consider and know to whom I speake I speake to yon that have heard the Word and many times received the Sacrament What did you when you received the Sacrament was it not a pledge to you of your interest in Christ and of your union with him and that Christ is as truely united with you as that you ate and dranke Now let it appeare make you account whatsoever you were before make you account reckon ye goe not by guesse and say I hope it will be better with mee then it hath beene no but reckon conclude make accompt I must be another man I may not be what I was I must leave those things that are ill I must apply my selfe to another course Indeed I walked in a way of enmitie to the wayes of God in estrangement from God in worldly wicked wayes but it must not now bee so I must make account now that Christ is mine I am now dead to sinne and therefore dead to sinne that I may live to God if there bee any life of grace in me it will appeare by my death to sinne I must must make account of this I must doe this and this is the best way of making a right use of the Sacrament Why are men as bad after the Sacrament as before because they reckon not they make not account for themselves that they are dead to sinne Make account you have received life from Christ and you must act that life and now set your selves to it reason with your owne hearts why doe I thus and thus As Ezra reasons Ezra 9. 13. Lord since thou hast kept us from being beneath for our iniquities should wee sinne more So consider hath the Lord kept me from hell and admitted me to his Table where he hath spoken peace to mee hee hath spoken reconciliation in Christ shall I returne to sinne against him certainly he will be more angrie now then ever he was before the sinnes that I commit now will bee greater then all the sinnes I have committed hitherto for now I sinne against more grace and against greater mercie for God hath againe renewed the Covenant of peace whereas he might have cast me off for my former breach and shall I provoke him againe hath the Lord washed mee and shall I defile my selfe againe God forbid Reason with your selves I must not be as I was it is not for mee to doe as others that know not God and that are not in Covenant with God or as I was wont to doe before I know what it is to bind my selfe in covenant to receive the Sacrament I must be in another fashion and course of life then ever I have beene Therefore when temptations come to sinne for you must not thinke to be rid of all motions and temptations to sinne and whensoever there comes new temptations not to conclude you have received the Sacrament in vaine say not so but rather say now comes the tryall this is that whereby God will trie what fruit comes of the cost and paines and mercies he hath bestowed on mee here is a messenger sent for fruit If I can withstand the commands of sinne and resist the motions
Mother But consider the World as it is in it selfe and there is nothing in it but true bitternesse and false sweetnes certaine paine and uncertaine pleasure tedious labour and timerous rest nothing in the World but vanitie and miserie for saith Saint Iohn Love not the World hee that makes himselfe the friend of God makes himselfe an enemie to the World O you lovers of the World sayth Saint Austin I wonder at you O foolish men who hath bewitched you for what wrestle you why doe you strive and contend so much what thing is their in the World that is worthie your labour there is sayth hee nothing in the World but that which is foolish and frothie and frayle and false and vaine and full of danger full of disaster suffer your selves therefore to bee weaned from the World And yet notwithstanding all that wee can say wee know there are some persons that will not bee taken off from the Worlds breasts they have a better opinion of it then so Let such enjoy their owne errour till they runne to ruine and till their owne overthrow take them off Yet notwithstanding wee know that which an Ancient hath that to whom God is once sweet the World must needs bee bitter 2 On the other side the knowledge of this serveth to winne us to the Lord that as the one draweth us off so the other may drive us on When I consider the mercies of the Lord and the goodnesse of God in the land of the living when I consider how infinite he is in his love I am ravished in spirit I am taken up in the minde and taken off in the flesh I have set my heart and affections on Heaven and on heavenly things And now when I think on the Lord there is my hope and there is my helpe and there where my helpe is there is my love and there is my life and there is my Lord there is Christ at the right hand of God Hee is the life of them that beleeve hee is the resurrection from the dead hee is the right hand where there is pleasure for evermore for there shall be no more paine no more death for the first things are past away saith Saint Iohn in the Revelation and all things are become new Oh hee that did but know the joyes that are reserved for such as are received to the Lord would soone bee taken up from all conceits of the things of this life Thinke you but of that great convocation house of Heaven that high Court of Parliament that great place of Majestie and honour where all the spirits of just men made perfect are where all the Saints departed live where there are all the blessed Patriarches godly Prophets the glorious Apostles the blessed Kings and the goodly fellowship of Martyrs and Confessors where there are the holy Angels and Arch-Angels Thrones and Dominions Seraphims and Cherubins in those glorious Orbes Where there is God the blessed Trinitie the King of Glorie whose Glorie is more then can be seene be sayd conceived to be where the joy of the Saints is such as eye hath not seene no sayth Saint Austin eye hath not seene for it is no colour nor eare hath not heard for it is no sound nor never entred into the heart of man to conceive for the heart of man must enter into it where all shall bee filled with abundance of peace so the Prophet they shall not only taste and see how good the Lord is but they shall be filled with abundance and they shall drink out of the River running over with infinite and transcendent pleasures where there gold shall be peace and their silver shall bee peace and their land shall bee peace and their life shall bee peace and their joy shall be peace and their God shall be peace and the God of peace hee shall fill them with the peace of God and that peace is it which passeth which is infinitely beyond all understanding Glorious things are spoken of thee thou Citie of God where the King is veritie and the Law is charitie and the State is felicitie and the Life is eternitie The comparing of these two things together of this lifes miserie and that lifes felicitie and eternitie would make a man sing and to sigh too It would make him sing I singing is in the Temple and sighing is in the Tabernacle singing in the Temple Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they shall be alwaies praysing thee here is singing but sighing is in the Tabernacle for while wee are in this Tabernacle therefore sigh wee desiring to be dissolved and to be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven for while wee are here we cannot be happie for this life is miserie This bee spoken for our selves The second application of this plea is for others seeing this life is such a life of miserie and that life is such a life of glory and immortality our present hap so base our future hope so excellent this should stay us and take us off from mourning for such as are departed as if wee were without hope of them Hope is in the Text the principall thing and to lament and mourn for those that are departed wee should bee so farre from it as to rejoyce in our spirits for the blessed translation of such into eternall rest from this vale of miserie I say we should rejoyce in their very translation What dost thou mourne and lament and hang downe the head and all for losse of such as are departed and gone to rest with God Oh but thou wilt say thou art not heavie for their gaine but for thine owne losse but seeing thy losse is the lesse and their gaine the greater why dost thou not observe a meane and a proportion in these things I confesse it is very fitting both in Civility and Divinity and agreeable to the lawes both of Grace and Nature that there should be mourning especially in the house of mourning at times and occasions offered in this nature it cannot otherwise be But for Rachel to mourne for her Children so as that shee would not be comforted not but that shee could have beene comforted but shee would not that is not well But I say here is comfort in abundance and here is that which must stay us from being transported with impatient griefe wee must overcome all our griefe with patience with a blessed expectation of our owne dissolution for we must thinke we shall goe to them they shall not returne to us let us desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best for them and for mee I and for thee too Enough of the fift Point The last which I will but name that so I may runne through this whole Scripture at this time is this that The righteous and the hopefull they are not miserable they are not most miserable not the most miserable of all nay they are not miserable at all
that may be meant but that which is unrighteously kept is unrighteous Mammon to you if you procured it never so justly unlesse you doe rightly dispose of it and if you be desirous to doe right in disposing of your mammon of your wealth doe it now That when you want that power and those times you may enjoy the comfortable fruit of the well-redeeming of the time of your life to receive you into everlasting habitations In the 25. verse of the 16. Luke it is the challenge of Abraham to Dives Sonne remember that thou in thy life-time haddest thy goods for so the word signifieth thou haddest thy opportunities of life and of goods too but now thou hast neither life nor goods left thee to doe good with and therefore hee is blessed and thou art tormented It was the folly of those five Virgins They tooke not the opportunitie of life for that is the thing meant there but they posted over all to the last and hoped that all might bee effected in a trice or minute of their life which would haue held them employment enough all the dayes of their lives And therefore they came short of heaven the gates were shut against them as you see when the Bridegroome came If any man imagine because it is said Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them That therefore it matters not so long as a man doth good at his death though hee have neglected the wayes of goodnesse all his life Let them know that by works there is not meant the actions of men but the fruites of their actions Their workes follow them not the workes they have deferred untill death but the fruites of those workes they did while they were living and received not the benefit of them untill death Their workes follow them that is the fruits of their workes It is more good and pleasant by farre to have the actions goe before and the fruites and comfortable effects to succeed and follow after But if any man yet suppose that hee may make that up in his Will which he hath neglected all his life long and though hee have lived miserably covetously and unprofitably all the dayes of his life yet his thoughts may tell him that by the Charitable Bequests of his last Testament as bequeathing largely to the Church and Common-wealth and to all sorts of people hee may at the last make fit compensation and satisfaction for neglect of former duties Let no man deceive himselfe with such a bad resolution for first it argues a signe of infidelitie that a man will not trust God for feare he should want in his life-time what is the reason else that he deferres the doing good in health unlesse it be for feare of wanting himselfe such distrust hee hath in the providence of God Besides the same God which bids thee doe good when thou hast opportunitie and while thou enjoyest the advantage of life hee expects it now And it may bee truly said of many that neglect those times of doing good while they lived and have now supplied that defect in their death by the large benevolence of their Wills Their will is good but their deed is â—…ught So much for the first point I proceed unto the second that is thou must not only take the time of thy life but also the opportunitie of thy meanes and thy estate while there is yet a price in thine hand while thou hast opportunitie and enjoyest wealth to doe good with redeeme the advantages and opportunities by employing them in that way for which thou didst receive them The time may come wherein you may desire to doe good but cannot wanting at estate and opportunities whereby to doe it Marke what Solomon saith Wilt thou trust in a thing of nothing for Riches have wings as an Eagle and flie away toward heaven It is the vanitie of men that they still forbeare and stay while their estates increase pretending that then they shall bee better able to doe good and extend themselves more largely or that they may keepe their wealth and waite for a better opportunitie But why wilt thou trust in a thing of nothing Thou seest a fowle in her flight and now it may be thou perceivest it but instantly it vanisheth out of thy sight Why riches have wings saith Solomon Thou hast them now in thy possession and retainest them fast in hold but presently they are departed they flie as an Eagle out of thy sight And the same wise man when he exhorteth men to cast their bread upon the waters Hee gives them this reason Thou knowest not what evills thou knowest not what judgements and calamities God intends to bring upon that Nation where thou livest upon the Citie upon the Familie where thou dwellest upon thy person or estate Thou knowest not what evils God will bring upon the earth And so likewise charge rich men in this world that they hee not high-minded and that they trust not in uncertaine riches but in the living God that they bee readie to distribute and to communicate and to doe good workes What is it that hinders men from distributing and communicating Because they trust in uncertaine Riches For if they would now learne not to trust in uncertaine Riches but account them uncertaine as they are and put confidence in the living God who can provide for them when those outward meanes which they so much rely on faile their expectations they would then be more liberall and bountifull and readie to doe good and to communicate So then here is the meaning of the point Take the opportunities of life That is first take the time of life while you may doe good and then take the meanes the wealth and estate which is the time of your meanes For this observe Iobs case hee goes on discoursing of this very point he was now a man stript of all hee had but the other day the Richest man in the East the Sâ—…ans and Caldeans had carried away his goods his cattell and his children and all things were taken from him Yet there was onething that administred comfort in the day of his adversitie and his affliction And it was this saith he If I have made the eyes of the poore to faile or if I eate my morsels alone or if I have not relieved the fatherlesse c. If I have not done thus and thus then let the Lords fiercest judgement fall upon mee But herein consists my comfort my conscience beares mee witnesse that when I had wealth and estate and enjoyed the goods of this life I did good I was father to the fatherlesse a foot to the lame and eyes to the blind I did all the good that lay within the compasse of my power to doe when I had meanes to doe it I say little doe you know beloved whatsoever thou art whatsoever estate thou hast though thou
conspicuous and open in providing that they of the houshold of faith should endure the scourge of povertie on earth that so the worke of his grace may appeare the more in them by the meanes of their povertie for when doth grace make it selfe more manifest in the heart then in the middest of such extremities The starres make the brightest reflection in the obscurest night and grace appeares most glorious chiefly in distresse You have heard of the patience of Iob had not Iob endured much sorrow and beene exercised in many afflictions the world had beene ignorant of his vertues hee was first deprived of his substance and suffered the torments of his body before hee expressed his patience You have heard of the faith of those people which wandered in sheepes-skinnes and goats-skins But how could you have beene acquainted with their faith if you had not heard of their clothing you see them in sheepes-skinnes and goats-skinnes enduring contempt of the world to preserve faith and a good conscience and so you became acquainted with their faith also Is it so then that Gods servants are thus then let the world wonder their fill at it and let not us account it a strange thing saith Saint Iames for it befalls others of the Saints So say I when wee see of the houshold of faith in povertie account it no strange matter that God bestowes not riches in this world to one that is rich in grace You see a multitude of beleevers stript of all they had and yet they were holy and religious Secondly condemne not their wayes for the entertainment they meet with in the world Like not the worse of the wayes of God because he afflicts his servants you should then judge evill of the generation of the just You know Iob was a man beloved of God from heaven he witnesseth his goodnesse Hee was an upright and a just man one that feared God and eschewed evill Notwithstanding you see how hee was environed with troubles and made destitute of meanes and the societie of his friends insomuch that his three familiar acquaintance did conclude that therefore hee was an hypocrite and that God had found him out in some sinne But the ensuing displeasure of God towards these men though it tooke no effect because of the righteous invocation of his servant Iob will tell us there belongs a judgement to those that censure the Children of God by their afflictions weighing their sinnes and their sufferings both in one scale together But beware of incurring Gods displeasure by accusing the generation of the just in respect of their unprosperous events in this World Thou seest one man disgraced in much trouble it may bee in extreame necessitie for want of these outward blessings presently thou concludest something is amisse in his life Thou perceivest another growes rich having riches and honour and applause in the World notwithstanding hee goes on in a prophane course yet thou concludest certainly God loves this man these are dangerous conclusions Cain and Esau were beloved of God if this bee a signe of love now God himselfe sayd that Hee hated Esau. Esau whom God hated had twelve Dukes to his Sonnes enjoying abundance and superfluitie of all things and therefore forbeaâ—…e to reprove the just man or call his integritie into question because of his outward poverty Thirdly take heed you despise not the Houshold of Faith for outward povertie thinke not meanly of them nor the worse of Grace because of their simple outside for this is to have the Faith of God in respect of mens persons when 〈◊〉 man comes in gay cloathing you say sit here in a goodly place but a man in meaner apparell stand thou there c. the meaning is this The Apostle stands not so much upon the placing of men but rather inveighs against the unseemly disposition of mens hearts that slighted Grace in the poore members of the bodie because they were not adorned with those outward ornaments that beautifie the bodie This thing the Lord calls a despising of the poore yee have despised the poore so that they did not walke as beleevers nor honour God in sinceritie because instead of honouring God by a familiar societie with the faithfull they despised him in contemning his Graces for their outward povertie unto whom hee had bestowed them not unlike to a phantasticall offender whose pardon being seal'd and sent him by an unworthie person chose rather to die for his offence then accept of his pardon from the hands of an inferiour person Secondly the last Point is this that These servants of God of the Houshold of Faith being poore should especially bee look't unto by those of the same house that are rich above all other persons they are to respect those of the Houshold of Faith So David My goodnesse extendeth not to thee but to the Saints on earth The Apostle witnesseth of Philemon That hee had refreshed the bowells of the Saints and had done good to them taking most especiall notice of him because of his goodnesse extended towards them This is the dutie And the Reason of it is because that for this intent hath God given riches unto some that have grace that so they might especially administer the comfort that wealth brings with it unto those that are poore of the same Houshold and profession of grace I say for this very reason God hath furnished some of his Elect with wealth and opportunities that above all other they might reserve a diligent care and respect towards others that share with them in the same Grace if they doe not I am certaine the world will not for of all other people those that feare God are the persons to whom they wish most unhappinesse and shortest continuance of life in this World Therefore hath God given wealth to those that have Grace that thâ—…y might minister a seasonable reliefe to others whose wants doe call for it Let the brother of low degree rejoyce in that hee is exalted and let the brother of high degree rejoyce in that hee is made low what is the low bringing of the brother in high degree but that hee becomes servant to him of low degree his wealth and revenewes nay all that hee enjoyes hee confesseth to bee for the service of the poorest Christian. Then hath the brother of low degree occasion enough to rejoyce because the brother of high degree receives both exaltation wealth and preferment and all that hee possesseth for his good And therefore beloved doe not slightly passe by this necessarie dutie for it will require your serious consideration and your best ability to performe it Secondly the â—…eere union and relation betweene one and another should bee a strong obligation upon those that are rich especially to extend their care and estate to those of low degree having grace for they are brethren and there is a strong bond that combines them together having all the same
Spirituall change wrought in the soule by the Spirit of God nothing makes in this life such a change as true grace Wee all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. This change is like the tuning of a disordered instrument or like the refining of corrupt mettall or like the clearing of the darke ayre or like the quickning of a dead Lazarus but neither is this change that the text intends Fourthly there is a change of the life and this I call a mortall change we shall all be changed saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 5. life hath the first course but death will have the second As in a Comedie severall persons have severall parts to act which when they have dispatched they all draw off of the stage so though in life we all present our selves on the stage of this world and act severall Scenes and parts yet at length we must all retire and passe away through one and the same doore of mortallity This is the change which Iob speakes of to wit a change of his life by Death Here then are two things to bee demonstrated and proved for the making good of the point in hand viz. 1. That death is a change 2. That this change of death will befall all the sonnes of men First that Death is a change not an anihilation A change is a different and a divers order or manner of being Anihilation is one thing and mutation is another thing there the thing ceaseth utterly to be here the thing only ceaseth to be as once it was so it is with Death it doth not reduce us to nothing but alter our former something it changes our manner or order of being not our being absolutely Now observe Death is a change in five respects First it changes that neere union of the Soule and the body and makes of one two severalls they that were as the hands mutually clasping or as two persons conjugally tyed together when Death comes it plucks them asunder and divides one from the other as farre as heaven is from the earth Secondly it changes our actions or worke Whiles life remained here in our bodies while our day lasted we might have fedde the hungry clothed the naked visited the sicke râ—…ved the distressed frequented the ordinances bewailed â—…nnes but when death once enters the night is come in which â—…an can worke thou art then turned changed into an insenâ—…ble rotten and loathsome carkasse Thirdly it changes our countrey Whiles we live here wee are as children put abroad to schoole in a strange place hence it is wee are so often in the Scripture called Pilgrims and strangers This earth this lower world is not the proper home of the Soule But when Death comes wee change our countrey wee goe home to our owne place to our owne Citie the wicked shall goe to their owne place as it is said of Iudas and the godly to their owne Mountaine to their owne Kingdome Fourthly it changes our companie In this life we converse with sinfull men emptie creatures infinite miseries innumerable conflicts but when Death comes all this shall be changed wee shall goe to our God and Father to our Christ and Saviour and to the innumerable company of blessed Angels and Saints and the spirits of just men made perfect Fiftly it changes our outward condition When Death comes thou shalt never see the wedge of gold againe thou shalt never find thy delights in sinne any more all the excellencie of the creature and the contentments of them and the sensuall rejoycing in them shall goe out with life Death shall shut and close them up in an eternall night which shall never rise to another day So much for the first thing that Death is a change I come now to speake briefly of the second that this change of Death will be fall all the sonnes of men Psal. 89. 48. What man is hee that liveth and shall not see death shall hee deliver his soule from the hand of the grave We love to see most things the eye is never satisfied with seeing and yet many things there are which we shall never see Every man cannot see that which one man doth but there is one thing which every man shall see hee must see death There are many enemies from whom wee can deliver our selves and many more from whom we may be delivered but yet there is one enemie from which wee cannot defend our selves nor bee defended by others he will be to strong for every man let him strive repine order his dyet intreate doe what hee will or can No saith the Psalmist none shall deliver his soule from the hand of the grave And he puts a Selah a note of observation at the end of the verse That all the sonnes of men are subject to this change by death will appeare to you by these familiar Arguments The First may be taken from the qualitie of our lives which is sweetly set out in the Scripture under the termes of changeable things all which point out unto us the certaintie of death Sometime our life is compared to a shew Psal. 39. 6 Surely every man walketh in a vaine shew In a shew you know there is some devise or other opened carryed a-while about but at length it is shut up so it is with our lives Sometime againe it is compared to a shade or a shadow Iob 8. 9. Our dayes upon earth are a shadow a shadow is but an imitation of a substance a kind of nimble picture which is still going and comming and will set at last perhaps it is suddenly ecclipsed so is our life Sometimes aâ—…aine it is compared to a vapour Iames 4. 14. What is your life it is even a vapour that vanisheth away like 〈◊〉 poore cloude sometimes looking white sometimes blacke sometimes quiet and settled sometimes againe tossed up and downe with every wind and at last consumed and brought to nothing so it is with our lives Sometimes also compared to a Tale Psal. 90. 9. Wee spend our yeares as a tale that is told a meere discourse of this thing and that thing and indeed but a very parenthesis of a more tedious discourse and many times it is broken off in the very telling so it is with our lives Sometimes againe it is as grasse as in Esay 46. The voyce said crie aloude what shall I crie all flesh is grasse and the goodlinesse thereof as the flower of the grasse And verse 7. The grasse withereth and the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it And Iob in this chapter calleth it a Flower Hee commeth forth saith he like a flower and is cut downe A flower is a sweet thing but of an earthly breed fedde with showres at its best when it is in all its glory it is but to day and to morrow it
be presented before Gods severe Judgement-seat with Usurie in thy baggs with bribes and oppression in thy hands with a scumme of holinesse in thy mind with uncleannesse in thy members with drunkennesse in thy mouth with swearing in thy tongue O Lord I tremble to thinke of it Fourthly the soule when it is once gone by Death can never be recovered any more the tree may be cut and that may grow againe the shippe may be lost and the wealth laboured up againe but if the glasse be broken in peeces it cannot bee made whole againe the soule of man is but one and the losse of that one is the losse of it for ever when death hath closed up thy eyes thou shalt never have opportunitie to pray more to weepe more to humble thy selfe more to fast more Never any Prophet or Apostle shall come unto thee in the Name of God more after death all the Ordinances cease unto thee for ever and all the space of returning shall cease unto thee for ever thou shalt not lye a fewyeares in flames of wrath and then get leave to come out and take a better course O no if once there then for ever there this life is the time of mercy and space of repentance but when Death shall deliver thee up to be judged by the Lord thou must stand for ever to his sentence therefore as Christ spake Agree with thine adversary while thou art in the way lest the Iudge deliver thee to the officer and hee cast thee into prison I tell thee thou shalt not depart thence till thou hast paid the last mite Luk. 12. 58. And get oyle into your lampes before the doore be shut Fiftly consider it will be as much as thou canst doe to doe the worke of Death when Death doth come therefore prepare and get all thy other worke done before For my Beloved consider three things First Conscience usually is most active at the time of death a man that could withstand and silence it in his life yet when hee comes to dye he shall heare his voyce and perhaps not bee able to stand under the bitter inditements and manifold accusations of it then it will spread the booke of thy life before thee and then and there thou shalt see thy sinnes as gastly presented as if they were so many wounds newly made Secondly thy patience will bee tryed with varietie of paine interruption of sleepe every place will be a thorne to thee and every action a burden Thirdly thy faith may be tryed to the utmost if thou lookest to thy Wife her teares may trouble thee if to thy Children their cryes may perplexe thee ifto thy friends they may bee discomforters to thee and will Satan let thee alone all this while will he let him lye downe in comfort who would not scarce let him live an houre in peace oh what a victory would it be if hee could at the last make thee cast a way thy confidence it is true he cannotattaine it but he may desperately attempt it Why brethren who knoweth the power of those sharpe temptations which may then beset him Verily all the holinesse which we have attained already all the duties we have performed already we may then looke on them with teares and cry out O why no sooner why no better why no more then all the strength of thy faith will be little enough to support thee Will there then be a change befall even all the sonnes of men Then to make some Use and Application of what hath beene said to ourselves First build no Tabernacls here Wee have here no abiding Citie And brethren saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7. 29 30 31. The time is short it remaines that they that have wives bee as if they had none and they that weepe as though they wept not and they that â—…oyce as though they rejoyced not c. Why this thirst for riches there will bee a change why this unwearied seeking after the things of this life as if thy soule were to goe into a barne or a bagge and there tumble it selfe for ever Thou foole this night may thy soule bee taken away and whose possessions shall then thy carefull and only gettings bee the glasse will be broken and all the wine will flye abroad though thou hast with much eagernesse grasped the world in this life â—…et in death thy hands must open themselves and let it goe thou must not hold the world above thy life nor thy life beyond the day of death no wee cannot alway have that which we desire wee must certainly part with what we most esteeme of Secondly what comfort is this to a good soule If wee had hope onely in this life saith Saint Paul wee of all men are most miserable 1 Cor. 15. Death is a happy change to a holy person First it is a change which shall put a period to all his changes in this life his outward condition how ofâ—… doth it change sometime by joy and sorrow sometime by comfort and miserie by health and sicknesse by abundance and want but when Death comes all sorrow shall flye away for ever thou shalt never bee more troubled with a sick body with a sad estate with common losses but the change of a temporall life shall set thee in a full and settled possession of an heavenly His inward condition how oft doth it change sometime free anon distressed now a sweet view of heaven anon darkned with feare now rejoycing in Christ anon buffeted with Sathan now blessing God for grace anon distracted with the insolent workings of remaining corruptions but when Death comes then comes a change of all this it will release thee for ever of sinne and Sathan after death sinne shall be a burden no more and Sathan shall be a tempter no longer but thou shalt be as happy as thou canst desire and shalt enjoy thy God and thy Christ without feare or trouble in glory in felicitie in eternity all the cruell insolences of tyrants shall come short of thy soule thou shalt be above their malice and beyond thy selfe Secondly it is a change and no worse then a change just as Ioseph changed his garments and went into Pharaoh so thou shalt put off thy body and goe into glory put off thy mortality and goe into immortalitie Oh whatterrour to wicked men a day of change will befall them Why didst thou say Oh David there is no bands in their death and they are not in changes like other men Verily I should have checked thee hadst thou not recanted it presently thy selfe Psal. 73. 4. 17. 18. 19. and reported it to us that they are set in slipperie places and are brought into desolation and cast down into destruction in a moment and utterly consumed with terrour Good Lord what a change is that to them they judged with insolent and unrighteous judgement the Children of God now but death will change this the unjust steward
returneth to her Mothers house the earth but the soule the Bridegroome to his Fathers house the Father of 〈◊〉 in Heaven as both their gests are set forth in this chapter verse 7. the dust returnes to the earth as it was and the spirit to God that gave iâ—… But in the evening of the World at that dreadfull night after which the Angell swore there should bee no more day or time here the soule is given by God to the bodie againe and then the marriage is consummated and both for ever fast coupled and wedded for better for worse to runne one everlasting fortune and to participate either eternall joyes or torments together Thus man is brought to his long home or as the Seventy and Saint Ierome render the Hebrew his house of eternitie and the mourners go about the streets here is a short reckoning of all mankinde like to that of the Psalmist who alluding to the name of the two Patriarches sayth Coll ADAM ABEL All men are altogether vanitie so here upon the foot of the account in Bonaventâ—…res casting all appeare wretched and miserable describitur miseria mortis in morientibus compatientibus all are either dead corpses or sad mourners corpses alreadie dead or mourners for the dead and their courses and motions are two 1 Straite man goeth c. 2 Circular mourners goe about The dead goe directly to their long home the living fetch a compasse and round about the termini of which their motions shall bee the bounds of my discourse at this present Wherein that you may the better discerne my passage from point to point I will set up sixe Posts or standings 1 The Scope 2 Coherence 3 Sense 4 Parts 5 Doctrine 6 Use. The Scope will give light to the Coherence the Coherence to the Sense the Sense to the Parts the Parts to the Doctrine the Doctrine to the Use. Wherefore I humbly entreate the assistance of Gods Spirit with the intention of yours whil'st in unfolding this rich peece of Arras I shall point with the finger to 1 The maine Scope 2 The right Coherence 3 The litterall Sense 4 The naturall Division 5 The generall Doctrine 6 The speciall application of this parcell of holy Scripture First the Scope Although all other Canonicall bookes of this old and new Testament were read in the Church yet as Gregorie Nyssen acutely observes this booke alone is intituled Ecclesiastes the Preacher or Church-man because this alone in a manner tendeth wholy to Ecclesiasticall politie or such a kinde of life or conversation as becometh a Preacher or Church-man For the prime scope of this booke is to stirre up all religious mindes to set forth towards Heaven betimes in the morning of our dayes Chap. 12. verse 1. Remember thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth to enter speedily into a strict course of holinesse which will bring us to eternall happinesse to dedicate to God and his service the prime in both senses that is the first and best part of our time For as in a glasse of distilled water the purest and thinnest first runneth out and nothing but lees and mouther at the last so it is in our time and age Optima queque dies miseries mortalibus â—…vi prima fluit Our best dayes first runne and our worst at the last And shall wee offer that indignitie to the Divine Majestie as to offer him the Devills leavings florem aetat is 〈◊〉 consecrâ—…re faecem Deo reservarâ—… to consecrate the toppe to the Devill and the bottome to God feed the flesh with the flower and the spirit with the 〈◊〉 serve the world with our strength and our Creatour with ouâ—… weaknesse give up our lusty and able members as weapons 〈◊〉 sâ—…nne and our feeble and weake to righteousnesse Will God accept the blinde and the lame the leane and the withered for a sacrifice How can we remember our Creatour in the dayes of our age when our memorie and all other faculties of the soule are decaied How shall wee beare Christs yoake when the Grashopper is a burthen unto us when wee are not able to beare our selves but bow under the sole waight of age What delight can wee take in Gods service when care and feare and sorrow and paine and manifold infirmities and diseases wholy possesse the heart and dead all the vitall motions and lively affections thereof Old men are a kinde of Antipodes to young men it is evening with them when it is morning with these it is Autumne in their bodies when it is Spring in these the Spring of the yeare to decrepâ—…t old men is as the Fall Summer is Winter to them and Winter death it is no pleasure to them to see the Almond-tree flourish which is the Prognosticatour of the Spring or the Grashopper leape and sing the Preludium of Summer for they now minde not the Almond-tree but the Cypresse nor thinke of the Grashopper but of the worme because they are far on in their way to their long home and the mourners are already in the streets marshalling as it were their troops and setting all in equipage for their funerall no dilectable objects affect their dull and dying sences but are rather grievous unto them as the Sunne and Raine are to old stumpes of trees which make them not spring againe but rot them rather and dispose them to putrifaction And so I have past the first and am come to the second Post or standing The right Coherence When they shall be afrayd of that which is high and feare shall be in the way and the Almod-tree shall flourish and the Grashoper shall bee a burthen and desire shall faile because man goeth to his long home If this Consequence be firme the Coherence must needs bee good but if this bee infirme and lame that must needes bee out of joynt let us then consider of the Consequence Surely Aristotle seemeth to bee of another minde whose observation it is old men that have their foot on Deaths threshold would then draw backe their legge if they could and at the very instant of their dissolution are most desirous of the continuance of their life and seeing the pleasures of sâ—…e like the Apples of Tantaâ—… running away from them they catch at them the more grâ—…dily for want is the 〈◊〉 one of dâ—…ire and experience offereth us many instances of old men in whâ—… Saint 〈◊〉 growes young againe who according to the corruption of nature which Saint Austin bewaileth with teares â—…alunt libidiâ—…em expleri quam exâ—…gui they are so faâ—…re from having no lust or desire of pleasures as being cloyed there with that they are more insatiable in them then in youth the flesh in them is like the Peacockes quae â—…ctarecrudescit which after it is sod in time will grow raw again so in them after mortification by diseases and age it reviveth Sophocles the Heathen Poet might passe for a Saint in comparison of them for hee
him let him balke the way of all flesh but if the earth be an ingredient nay a predominant in his composition then assure himselfe his resolution shal be into it for the Dust will return to the earth as it was ver 7. Plato conceived the celestiall bodyes to be made as it were of the flower and purest of the elements but the sub lunaâ—…ie and terrestriall of the bran and lees Beloved we are made of dregs and our mother is muther cousin-germaine to corruption once removed all men are either young or old the difference betweene them is no more then wee find in the translations of my Text the old man it the young man ibit the one is now going the other shall goe to his long home the one may die soone the other cannot live long If he dye naturally he keepeth his owne pace and goeth of himselfe if he dye by violence he is driven forward and mending his pace sooner arriveth at his long home But as there is a naturall body and a spirituall body an earthly Adam and a heavenly so there is a naturall course of man of which I have finished my discourse and a spirituall of which I am yet to begin As the naturall life so the Christian is a progresse in which we ought not to stay but to advance still proceeding from grace to grace and vertue to vertue If we ever looke to shine as the Sun in the kingdome of the Father we must not be like Ioshua his Sunne that stood still or Hezekia's that went backe ten degrees but like Davids which like a gyant runnes his course and never ceaseth I need not direct any man in his naturall course from life to death every man knowes it and whether hee knowes it or no he shall accomplish it the spirituall course is more considerable which is itinerarium ad Deum a Journall to eternitie a progresse from earth to heaven this progresse a man begins at his regeneration and in part endeth in his dissolution by Death but wholly and fully after his Resurrection the way here is Christ the viaticum the blessed Sacraments the light the Scriptures the guides the ministers of the Word the theeves that lie in waite to rob us of our spirituall treasure the divells our convoy the Angels our stages severall vertues and degrees of perfection the Citie to which we bend our course Ierusalem that is above wherein are many Mansions or eternall houses And thus as before the old man so now the new man goeth to his long and eternal home without any resting place betweene at which all the ordinary sort of the Romanists must bait though little for their ease cooling or refreshing for it is in a hot-house nay a house all on fire nay all of fire and that as hot as hell I meane Purgatory wherewith if Solomon had beene acquainted hee would have changed this motto of mortalitie and not have said man goeth to his eternall home but to his purging bath and the Friers goe about the streetes singing Masses and Dirges for his soule assuredly if the soules of those that die under the Gospell need a sacrifice to deliver them from the torment of a temporarie hell or Purgatorie fire the soules of them that died under the Law much more needed it why then did Moses appoint none for them why did none of the inspired Prophets pray for the release of their soules Solomon if there had beene such a stop in the mid-way would have made a pawse in his speech and not said im-immediately man goeth In domum eternitatis suae into his everlasting home as the Seventie and the vulgar Latine which no Papist upon paine of a curse can reject render the Hebrew Beth gnolomo Purgatorie is no such home therefore Gregorie of Neocesarea and Cyprian so expound this Text that they quite leave out this immaginarie fire kindled in the paper walls of Purgatorie Gregorie saith the good man marcheth out joyfully towards his eternall house but the wicked drawes backe and bedewes the threshold with teares and fills all with lamentations and that wee may know when a man taketh possession of his eternal home Saint Cyprian tels us it is upon the expiring of our lease in the poore tenement of our body If there be a Purgatorie for Soules after this life why not for bodyes also which need as much puâ—…ging as soules if such a place be to be found wee are certainely like to heare of it from Philosophie or Divinitie and may discover it either in the mappe of the World or in the type of Heaven the holy Scripture Nature gives us no notice of any such place in Scripture wee finde indeed a Purgatorie but it is either in the laver of our regeneration or in the blood of our Redemption for so wee reade I Iohn 1. 7. The blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth or purgeth us from all finnes if from all sinnes then none are left to bee burned out with Purgatorie fire The Philosophers indeed describe a fire in the night which they call ignis fatuus or the fooles fire because it leads fooles out of their way whereby they often fall into bogges or theeves hands is not this Romish Purgatorie that ignis fatuus that leades fooles in the night of errour out of their right way whereby they truly fall into theeves hands I meane the Monkes and Friers Priests and Jesuits who though they can purge neither the bodies nor the souls of the deceased yet they can the purses of the living by these fire-works of their witte But I list not to dwell any longer in Purgatorie because there is no such reall place either in the world or out of it I am now come though long first to mans long home which cannot be described in a short time and therefore I leape into my last stage which as you may remember was The Application of the Text to this sad occasion As a contrary order is used in a compositive method to that which is taken in a resolotive so I must now use in the Application of my Text a method direct contrary to that which I followed in my Explication for therein first I shewed you how the naturall man goeth to his long and the Spirituall to his eternall home and after how and why and what sort of Mourners went about the streetes lamenting the deceased but now I am first to speake of the Mourners who have already finished their circular motion and then of the direct motion of the Man the man of qualitie the man of worth the man of estate and credit who is already arived at his long Lete and now entering into his long home Touching the Mourners I cannot but take notice of their number and qualitie the number is great we see yet wee see not all who yet are the truest Mourners pouring out their soules to God with teares in their private closets Illa dolet verè quae sine
of a hireling The Almond tree groweth not upon the head of any without dew from heaven here it grew and bloomed in a seasonable time If life be a blessing long life is a greater blessing especially if it be crowned with a happy death for the last Act maketh our life a Comedie or a Tragedie and as the evening proves the day so a mans estate at his death and after over-rules the verdict of his life Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet and so I fall into the road of my Text and begin to treate of the peaceable end of those who die in the faith and lie in the bosome of Abraham Goe to thy fathers in peace There is a great difference about the interpretation of this phrase Ibis ad patres and the reason of the difference is the difficultie which insueth upon every interpretation For if we referre these words to the body of Abraham and the buriall thereof in the Sepulchres of his Fathers this Exposition complieth not with the truth of the storie for none but Sarah lay in this cave Abrahams Fathers were else-where bestowed If we referre them to the soule of Abraham and illustrate them with this glosse Thou shalt goe in thy soule to the glerious troupe of thy Ancestours a question then will grow what that place is whether his Fathers went before him is it Heaven but some of Abrahams Fathers were Idolatours and we have no warrant to place any Idolatour there Is it Hell thither no man goes in peace neither did ever yet any Jew or Christian so rubbe his forehead or rather arme it with brasse as to affirme that the soule of Abraham in whom all generations of the earth were blessed was in Hell shall wee then send him to the Rabbins Limbus or the Popish Purgatorie or the auncient Fathers occulta receptacula hidden receptacles or unknowne places wherein Tertullian conceiveth that the soules of the faithfull departed resemble those among the Romans who stood for offices and the day of the election while the voyces were in calculation expected in a white gowne whether they were chosen or not Saint Austine also is very expresse for these hidden Cells from the death of a man till the last resurrection the soules are bestowed in hidden receptacles as every soule is worthy either rest or paine To dispell this mist which hath caused many to misse their way first by the light of the Scripture I will cleare the Point in question and then interpret the phrase First then for the soules of the faithfulls flight after shee is free from this clog of flesh I answer that it is straight to Heaven to the assembly of the first borne there and the spirits of just men made perfect for of Enoch who was translated that he might walke with God and of Elias who was carried up into Heaven in a fierie Chariot there is little doubt can bee made and lesse of Abraham to whose bosome in Heaven Lazarus was carried and least of all on the Theife to whom Christ promised on the Crosse this day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise Why should Saint Paul so earnestly desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ if after his dissolution till the day of judgement hee should not come neare him nor see his face Why should all godly Christians bee so willing to bee absent from the bodie that they might bee present with the Lord if after they were absent from the bodie they should not come into the Lords presence who dare question that which the Apostle so expresly and so confidently delivers wee know that if the house of our earthly tabernacle bee dissolved wee have an eternall in the Heavens As for the phrase thou shalt go to thy Fathers it is but an elegant circumlocution of the period of our life a quaver upon the close thereof for the meaning is thou shalt dye or go the way of all flesh Quo pius â—…neas quo dives Tullus Ancus whether all thy Fathers went before thee good and bad rich and poore for Deaths sickle like the Italian Captaines sword which could not distinguish betweene a Guelf and Gibelive slaies all and makes a prey of all The righteous soule must for a time be divorced from the body as well as the foule of the wicked and in the graves the Wormes claime kindred of the elect as well as of the reprobate the consideration whereof put the Preacher into a passion how doth the righteous man dye as well as the wicked as it is said of Abraham that hee is gathered to his Fathers so it is sayd also of Ishmael and may bee of the wickedest man that breathes And herein the language of Canaan and the language of Ashdod doe not much differ for what the Romans meane by that their phrase abijt ad plures hee is gone to the many The Hebrewes in a sanctified phrase expresse by abijt ad patres hee is gone to his Fathers or gathered to his people where of some interpreters give this acute reason It cannot bee sayd of us here whilest wee live that wee are gathered to our owne people in a spirituall sense because here good and bad are gathered together Elect and Reprobate so journe together all are as it were joynt Comminers upon the earth the Citie of God and the Citie of the World sayle in the same shippe to the Haven of death The Draw-net of the Gospell catcheth sweet and stinking fish in Gods field Tares grow with Wheat in his floare there is much Chaffe with good graine But after death God taketh his Fanne in his hand and purgeth his Floare After wee depart hence God placeth and sorteth his Children by themselves and the Children of the World and the wicked are by themselves and so every man is exactly gathered to his owne people every starre is set in his owne constellation every graine is put in his owne heape every person and family is joyned to his owne tribe wee all passe by the same gate of death but presently after wee are out of it some take the right hand and are ranked with sheepe others the left hand and are ranked among his goates We are all like Plate worne out of fashion and wee must all bee altered and therefore of necessitie must bee melted that is dissolved by death but after wee have runne in the fire of the judgement of God of that which was pure mettall God will make Vessells of honour but of the drossie and alcumie stuffe that is the prophane or impure person or hypocrite vessells of dishonour and these shall shine like the sunne in the Firmament those shall gloe like coales in the fire of hell for ever more By this it should seeme may some object that the righteous have no prerogative in death above the wicked but onely after death and consequently that God promised Abraham no blessing in these words thou shalt goe to thy fathers it
had beene rather a singular favour to have kept him out of the common tracke with Enoch and have translated him that hee might not see death this objection is answered in the next words In peace it is no speciall blessing or favour to bring us to our fathers by death for statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori the Statute provideth sufficiently to send us to the place where wee were borne but to send us thither in peace is a singular favour which God vouchsafeth his deare Children especially in such a peace as Abraham went in wherein a three-fold peace concurred 1 Peace of estaâ—… 2 Peace of bodie 3 Peace of conscience First thou shalt goe to thy fathers in peace that is in a peaceable time or the dayes of peace the stormes I foreshewed thee hanging over thy Posteritie shall not fall in thy time but thou shalt dye in a blessed calme thy house being set in order and thy friends about thee thy children shall close thine eyes and they whom thou broughtest into the World shall carry thee with honour out of the World Secondly thou shalt goe to thy fathers in peace that is thou shalt have an easie and a quiet passe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there shall bee no great strugling at thy departure but a kinde parting of soule and bodie thy soule shall earnestly desire to returne to the Father of spirits and though thy bodie shall contend in courtesie to stay it a while yet it shall without much adoe yeeld thou shalt like a ripe Apple fall from the Tree without plucking or a violent blast of Winde thou shalt goe out of thy selfe as a golden Taper when the waxe is spent and thou shalt leave a sweet smell a good name like a precious perfume after thee Thirdly thou shalt goe to thy fathers in peace that is in peace of conscience and peace with God which passeth all understanding thou shalt have no trouble in thy minde at the houre of death no terrours of conscience no fearefull conflict with despaire no dangerous assault of Sathan no flashes of hell fire all thy sinnes shall bee blowne away like a cloud and the beames of Gods countenance shall shine brightly upon thee and dry up all thy teares non sic impij non sic it shall not bee so with the wicked it shall not bee so with them for there is no peace to the wicked sayth my God neither in life nor death but as a ruffe sea is ruffest of all and most foaming and raging of all at the shore so the life of a wicked man is alwaies unquiet but most troublesome at all neare the end If hee die not in some garboyle as Sylla or in the act of uncleannes with Iohn the Twelfe or voyding his entralls with Arrius or rending his bowells with Iulian or falling upon his own sword with Nero or rayling and raging with Latomus if hee bee not punished in bodie with some violent â—…it of sicknesse or unsufferable pang of torment yet hee goeth not to his fathers in peace for there is sent a hue and cry after him to apprehend him and lay him in chaines of darknesse till the generall Assises at the dreadfull day of Doome when hee shall not bee â—…ound of God in peace but in wrath and reading in the looke of the â—…udge of quick and dead his dreadfull sentence hee shall cry to the hills to fall upon him and to the mountaines to cover him from the presence of God and wrath of the Lambe And thou shalt bee buried in a good old age Although the heathen Philosophers 〈◊〉 little accompt of of Buriall as appeared by that speech of Theodorus to the Tyrant who thretned to hang him I little passe by it whether my carkasse putrifie above the earth or on it and the Poet seemes to bee of his minde whose strong line it was Câ—…lo 〈◊〉 qui â—…on habet 〈◊〉 which was Pompeys case and had like to have beene Alexanderâ—… and William the Conquerours Yet all Christians who conceive more divinely on the soule deale more humanly with the bodie which they acknowledge to bee membrum Christi and Templum Dei amember of Christ and Temple of God If charitie commands thee to cover the naked sayth Saint Ambrose how much more to burie the dead when a friend is taking a long journey it is civilitie for his friends to bring him on part of the way when our friends are departed and now going to their grave they are taking their last journey from which they shall never returne till time shall be no more and can wee doe lesse then by accompaning the Corpes to the grave bring them as it were part on their way and shed some few teares for them whom wee shall see no more with mortall eyes The Prophet calleth the grave Miscabin a sleeping chamber or resting place and when wee read Scriptures to them that are departing and give them godly instructions to dye wee light them as it were to their bed and when wee send a deserved testimonie after them wee perfume the roome Indeed if our bodies which like garments wee cast off at our death were never to bee worne againe wee need little care where they were throwne or what became of them but seeing they must serve us againe their fashion being onely altered it is fit wee carefully lay them up in deaths Wardrobe the grave though a man after hee have lost the jewell doth lesse set by the casket yet hee who loves much and highly esteemeth of the soule of his friend as Alexander did of Homer cannot but make some reckoning of the Deske or Cabinet in which it alwaies lay wee have a care of placing the picture of our friend and should wee not much more of bestowing his bodie If buriall were nothing to the dead God would never have threatned Coniah that hee should have the buriall of an Asse nor the Psalmist so quavered upon this dolefull note dederunt cadaver servorum tuorum coeli volucribus O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy Temple have they defiled and made Ierusalem an heape of stones the dead bodies of thy servants have they given to the fowles of Heaven But thou shalt bee buried in a good old age Procopius observeth it in Miriam Aaron and Moses that as they exceeded one the other in holinesse so in dayes for Aaron out lived Miriam and Moses Aaron long life is a crowne when it is found in the wayes of righteousnesse cum senectute bona and albeit it is almost the burthen of every mans song that age is a burthen and a perpetuall disease or rather a continuall tract of diseases and a sequence of maladies yet none for ought I see goeth about to lay downe this burthen or to bee cured of this disease even they who most eloquently declaime upon the vanitie and exclaime against the miseries of this life and wish a thousand times that
they were dead would bee loath to bee taken at their word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke signifieth praemiâ—…m a reward as well as senectum old age and doubtlesse old age in generall is so to be accompted for it is reckoned among the blessings which God bestowed upon Iob Isaac David and 〈◊〉 who are all sayd to have dyed in a good old age or full of dayes riches and honour For howsoever to some men in some case contraction of their dayes hath proved an aduantage by abridging their present and preventing their future sorrowes as it was to good King Iosiah who was timely taken away that he might not see the evill which after his death fell upon his people and to Saint Austine who died immediatly before Hippo was taken Yet length of dayes ordinarily is a blessing and promised to such as obey their Parents honour thy father and thy mother that thy dayes may bee long as on the contrary shortning the dayes of life is threatned by the Psalmist as a curse to the blood-thirstie and deceitfull man and Ely tooke it for such when Samuel from God told him there should not bee an old man in his familie Howsoever if old age be not perpetually and simply a blessing in it selfe yet as it is here qualified with bona I am sure it is The Almond-tree is beautifull of it selfe how much more when it is hung with jewells and precious stones as Xerxes his Platinas was and crowned with health riches honour and the comfort of a good conscience These make old age such a burthen as bladders are to him that swimmeth which beare him up or feathers to a bird which though they have some weight yet by them she raiseth her selfe up and flyeth By this time you expect I know the application of this Scripture but it is made alreadie not in word but in deed not by mee but by him whose emptie Casket wee behold with teares yet rejoycing that God hath taken out the jewell to adorne his Spouse the triumphant Church in Heaven He is alreadie gone in soule to his Fathers and is now going in bodie to them to be buried in their Sepulchre his bodie and soule are now distracted and wee for his distraction his soule is gone and our hearts are gone I ever held sighes the best figures and teares the fluentest rhetoricke in a Funerall speech if I had better known this honourable Personage I could have spoken more in his praise yet no more then the Citie and Countrey will prove to bee true by the misse of him Desider antur reliqua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS 10 PAEAN OR CHRISTS TRIUMPH OVER DEATH A FVNER ALL SERMON Preached at Lambeth August 3. 1639. SERMON XLIII 1 COR. 15. 55. O Death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victorie IFeare lest some here present that are of a more melting disposition stung with the sense of their present losse and overcome with griefe and sorrow for it may frame an answer with a deep sigh to the interrogations in my Text saying here is Deaths sting here is the Graves victorie here is Deaths sting for it hath stung him to death who was the stay of my comfort and joy of my life here is the Graves victorie for it holdeth the corpse of my dearest friend captive and close prisoner in his Coffin If any thus troubled in mind heare mee this day let them stop the flood-gate of their teares and lengthen their patience but to an houre and by Gods assistance in the explication and application of this parcell of Scripture I â—…ll make it appeare to them that their friend is not dead but sleepeth and that death hath not swallowed up him but he hath swallowed up death into victorie and that already in soule hee insulteth over Death in the words of my Text O Death where is thy sting and shall hereafter in body when this corruptible shall put on incorruption insult in like manner over the grave saying O grave where is thy victorie This sentence is like a Ring of gold enameled or cloth of Tissue imbrothered or a peece of rich plate curiously wrought and engâ—…aven materiam suâ—…abit opâ—… the workmanship seemes to goe beyond or at least equall the mettall for this sentence consisteth of three figures at least First an Apostrophe which by a kind of miracle of art giveth life to dead things and eares to the deale like to that O earth earth earth heart the voyce of the Lord. Secondly an insultation like to that in the Prophet Esay Where are the gods of Hamar and the gods of Arphad or the gods of the Citie of Sepharvaim Thirdly a double Metaphor the former taken from a Serpent Bee Waspe or Hornet the latter taken from a Conquerour for Death is here compared to a Bee Waspe Hornet or Serpent without a sting the Grave to a Conquerour that hath lost his bootie or prisoner O Death c. Such Drawne-workes wrought about with divers colours of Art we find often in the Sacred context especially in the Prophecies of the old Testament and the Epistles of Saint Paul in the new If we looke up to the heavens we finde in some part of the skie single starres by themselves in others a Constellation or conjunction of many starres so in some passages of holy Writ you may observe one figure or trope as namely a membrum Or similiter cadens as I was hungry and you gave mee meate I was thirsty and yee grave me drinke I was naked and you clothed me I was sicke and in prison and you visited mee or an Allegorie as Where the body is there the Eagles will bee gathered or an Apostrophe as Heare O heavens and hearken O earth or an exclamation Oâ—… that they were wise then they would understand this Oh that my people would have hearkened to my voyce and that Israel would have walked in my wayes In other passages a conjunction and combination of many figures and ornaments of speech as in that Text of the Prophet Ieremie Is there no balme in Gilead no physitian there Why then is not the health of my people restord In which one verse you may note foure figures First an interogation for more empheticall conviction Secondly a communication for more familiar instruction Thirdly an Allegorie for more lively expression Fourthly an Aposiopesis for safer reprehension and the like wee may observe in our Saviours exprobration O that thou knewest in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace O Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the Prophets and stonest those that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen doth her chickens and thou wouldst not Here is a posie of rhetoricall flowers an exclamation O si cognovisses à reticentia at least in this thy day saltem in hoc die tuo A repetition Ierusalem Ierusalem an interogation how oft would I quoties volui And lastly
enemie and so the Apostle tearmeth it the last enemie that shall bee destroyed is Death For albeit Death by accident is an advantage as oftentimes an enemie doth a man a good turne which occasioned that excellent Treatise of Plutarch wherein he sheweth us how to make an Antidote of poyson and a good use of other mens maâ—…ice yet is it in it selfe an enemy alwayes to Nature and to grace also it sets upon the elect and the Reprobate the beleever and the Infidell the penitent and the obstinate but with this difference it flyes at the one with a deadly sting but at the other without a sting the one it wounds to death the other it terrifieth and paineth but cannor hurt But there being divers kinds of death which of them is here meant Death is a privation and privations cannot bee defined but by their habits that is such positive qualities as they bereave us of for instance sicknesse cannot be perfectly defined but by health which it impaireth nor blindnesse but by sight which it destroyeth nor darknesse but by light which it excludeth nor death but by life which it depriveth us of Now if there bee a fourefold life spoken of in Scripture viz. 1. Of nature 2. Of sinne 3. Of grace 4. Of glory There must needs be a foure-fold death answerable thereunto 1. The death of Nature is the privation of the life of nature by paâ—… soule and bydy 2. The death of sinne is the privation of the life of sinne by mortifying grace 3. The death of Grace is the privation of the life of grace by reigning sâ—…ne 4. The death of Glory is the privation of the life of Glory by aiâ—… and finall exclusion from the glorious presence of God and the kingdome of heaven and a casting into the lake of fire and brimstone prepared for the divell and his angells Of Death in the first sence David demandeth who is hee that liveth and shall not see death and shall hee deliver his soule from the hand of hell Of Death in the second sense Saint Paul enquireth how shall wee that are dead to sinne live any longer therein Of Death in the third sense Saint Paul must be meant where he rebuketh wanton Widowes Shee that liveth in pleasure is dead while shee liveth Of Death in the fourth sense Saint Iohn is to bee understood Blessed is hee that hath part in the first resurrection for on such the second death hath no power Saint Austin joyneth all these significations and maketh one sentence of divers senses hee is dead to death that is Death cannot kill hurt or affright him who is dead to sinne And another of the Ancients makes a sweet cord of them like so many strings struck at once hee that dyeth before hee dyes shall never die hee that dyeth to sinne before hee dyeth to nature shall never dye to God neither in this world by finall deprivation of grace neither in the world to come of glorie Of these foure significations of Death the first and last fort with this Text for that the first is to bee meant it is evident by the consequence here O grave I will be thy destruction And by the antecedents in Saint Paul When this corruptible shall put on incorruption c. And that the second is included may bee gathered both from the words of Saint Iohn And Death and bell were cast into the lake of fire and of our Saviour I was dead and I am alive and have the keyes of Hell and of Death And so I fall upon my second Observation viz. the Person menacing I the second person in Trinitie our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The word here used Ehi is the same with that we reade Exod. 3. Ehi Ashur Ehi I am that I am and if the observation of the Ancients be current that wheresoever God speaketh unto man in the old Testament in the shape of man or Angell we are to understand Christ for that all those apparitions were but a kind of preludia of his incarnation then the Person here threatning can bee no other then he besides the word Egilam in the former part of this verse being derived from Gaal signifying propinquus fuit or redemit jure propinquitatis pointeâ—… to our Saviour who by assuming our nature became our Alic by blood and performed this office of a kinsman by redeeming the inheritance which we had lost But we have stronger arguments then Grammaticall observations that he who here promised life to the dead and threatneth plagues to Death was the Sonne of God the Lord of quick and dead for the same who promiseth to redeeme from the Grave threatneth to plague Death but we all know that Redeemer is the peculiar style of the Sonne as Creator is of the Father and Sanctifier of the Holy Ghost tu redemisti nos thou hast redeemed us to GOD by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and Nation To the redemption of a slave that is not able to ransome himselfe three at least concurre the Scrivener who writeth the Conditions and sealeth the Bonds the partie who soliciteth the businesse and mediateth for the captive and layeth downe the summe agreed upon for his ransome and the person in whose power the captive is and who accepteth of the ransome Which of these is the Redeemer you will all say he that is at the cost of all so it is in our redemption from spiritual thraldome the holy Spirit draweth the condition and sealeth the bonds the Father receiveth the ransome the Sonne both mediateth for the ransoming and layeth downe the summe For we were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but the pretious blood of Christ as of a Lambe without blemish hee tooke part of our nature that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the divell and deliver them who through the feare of death were all their life time subiect to bondage Hence we gather that hee that destroyed Death must die but to affirme that the immortall and eternall Spirit of God expired is blasphemie and to say that the Father suffered is heresie longagoe condemned in the Patro-passions we conclude therefore with the Apostle that the second Person Christ Jesus hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortalitie to light by the Gospell And so I fall upon my last Observation the judgement here mentioned Devorica 3. Thy plagues there is no tittle or iota in holy Scripture superfluous some mysterie therefore lyeth in the number plagues in the plurall not plague in the singular which I conceive to be this that Christ put Death to many deaths and foyled and conquered it many wayes first in himselfe secondly in his members First in himselfe by destroying sinne the sting of Death Secondly by breaking the bonds thereof in his powerfull Resurrection wherwith it was impossible that hee should be
it is justice suum cuique tribure to give every one his due it is charitie to propose eminent examples of heavenly graces and vertues shining in the dead for the imitation of the living Such jewells ought not to bee locked up in a Coffine as in a Casket but to bee set out to the view of all and surely they deserve better of the dead who set a garland of deserved praises on their life then they who stick their Hearse full with flowers Tapers made of pure waxe burne clearely and after they are blowne out leave a sweet savour behinde them so the servants of Christ who have caused their light so to shine before men that they may see their workes and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven leave a good name like a sweet smell behinde them and why may wee not blow it abroad by our breath Deo Patri c. The rest concerning the life and death of the party is lost FINIS VOX COâ—…LI OR THE DEADS HERALD SERMON XLV APOCH 14. 13. And I heard a voyce from heaven saying unto mee write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence forth c. VBi Vulnus ibi manus From whence wee tooke our wound from thence we receive the cure a voyce from heaven strucke all the living dead saying All flesh is grasse and the glory or goodlinesse of it is as the flower of the field The grasse withereth c. But here a voyce from heaven maketh all whole againe and representeth all the dead in the Lord living yea and flourishing too â—…aying Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord. To give a touch at the wound that the smart thereof may make the sense of the cure more delightfull Omnis caro foenum omnis homo flos All flesh is grasse and â—…very man is a flower There is difference in grasse some is longer and some is shorter so some men are longer lived some shorter Some grasse shooteth up with one leafe some with three some with five or more so some men have more in their retinue some fewer some none at all Some grasse withereth before it is cut as the grasse on the house toppe some is cut before it withâ—…reth as the grasse of the field so some men decay before the Sythe of death cutts them all other after Likewise there is a great difference among flowers 1. Some are for sight only not for the smell or any vertue in medicines as Tulips Emims and Crowne Emperials 2. Some for sight and smell but of no use in Medicines as Sweet-williams the painted Lady and Iuly-flowers generally 3. Some are both for sight and smell and of singular use in Medicines as Roses and Violets So some men are of better parts and greater use in the Church and Common-wealth others of lesse Some flowers grow in the field some in the garden so some mens lives and improvements are publike others private Some flowers are put in Posies some in Garlands some are cast into the Still so some men are better preferred then others and some live and die in obscuritie Lastly some flowers presently lose their colour and sent as the Narcissus some keepe them both long as the red Rose So some men continue longer in their bloome grace and favour others for a short time but all fade and within a while are either gathered cut downe or withered of themselves and die And for this reason it is as I conceive that we sticke herbes and flowers on the Hearse of the dead to signifie that as we commit earth to earth and ashes to ashes so we put grasse to grasse and flowers to flowers For omnis caro foenum All flesh is grasse and all the goodlinesse thereof as the flower of the field the grasse withereth and the flower fadeth away But the comfort is in that which followeth But the word of the Lord endureth for ever and this is the word which by the Gospell is preached unto you Whereof this verse which I have read unto you for my Text is part Which Saint Iohn inferreth as a conclusion or corrolarie upon the conclusion of the Saints and Martyrs lives this conclusion is inâ—…erred upon two premisses 1. The end of their labours 2. The reward of their worke The Syllogisme may be thus formâ—…d All they who are come to an end of their labour and have received liberally for their worke or are paid well for their paines are happie But all the dead that die in the Lord are come to an end of their labour for they rest from their labours and receive liberally for their workes follow them Ergo all the dead that die in the Lord are happy As in other Texts so in this wee may borrow much light from the occasion of the speech which here was this Saint Iohn having related in a vision a fearefull persecution to fall in the latter times whereby the earth should bee râ—…aped and the Saints mowen like grasse and true beleevers like grapes pressed in such sort that their blood should come out of the wine-presse even to the horse bellies breaketh into an Epiphonema vers 12. here is the patience of the Saints that is here is matter for their patience and faith to worke upon Here is their patience to endure for Gods cause whatsover man or divell can inflict upon them to part with any limbe for their head Christ Jesus gladly to forfeit their estates on earth for a crowne in heaven chearefully to lose their lives in this vale of teares that they may find them in the rivers of pleasures that spring at Gods right hand for evermore Here is worke for their faith also to see heaven as it were through hell eternall life in present death to beleeve that God numbreth every haire of their head and that every teare they shed for his sake shall bee turned into a pearle every drop of blood into a Rubie to be set in their crowne of glorie To confirme both their faith and patience Christ proclaimeth from heaven that howsoever in their life they seemed miserable yet in their death they shall bee most blessed and that the worst their enemies can doe is to put them in present possession of their happinesse Blessed are the dead c. So saith the spirit whatsoever the flesh saith to the contrarie Here wee have 1. A proposition De fide of faith 2. A Deposition or testimonie of the spirit A Proposition of the happy estate of the dead A deposition of the holy Ghost to confirme our faith therin 1. Saint Iohn sets downe his relation 2. A most comfortable assertion 3. A most strong confirmation The relation strange of a voyce from heaven without any speaker The assertion as strange of a possession without an owner a blessed estate of them who according to the Scripture phrase are said not to be The Confirmation as strange as either by an audible testimonie of an invisible witnesse So
wit some red flower as well as white yet the Crowne and Garland of all Confessours are compleat And therefore not onely Beda and Bernard and Richardus and Andreus and Primasius and Haymo and Ansbertus and Ioachimus but also the Greeke and the Roman Church yea and the reformed also understand these words of all that dye in Gods favour for they read these words at the Funeralls of all the dead and not onely at the Funeralls of Martyrs Yea but how can any bee sayd to dye in the Lord that is continuing his Member sith Christ hath no dead Members I answer that the faithfull dye not in the Lord in that sense in which they live in him but in another they die not spiritually nor cease to bee his mysticall Members but naturally that is they continuing in Christs faith and love breathe out their souies and so fall asleepe in his bosome or dye in his love laying hold of him by faith and relying on him by hope and embracing him by charitie All they dye in the Lord who die in the act of contrition as Saint Austin who reading the penetentiall Psalmes with many teares breathed out his last gaspe sighing for his sinnes Or in the act of charitie as Saint Ierome who in a most fervent or vehement exhortation to the love of God gave up the ghost Or in the act of Religion as Saint Ambrose who after he had received the blessed Sacrament in a heavenly rapture and a holy parley with Christ left the body Or in the act of Devotion as Aquinas who lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven pronouncing with a loude voyce those words of the Spouse in the Canticles Come my beloved let us goe forth went out of this world Or in the Act of gratulation and thankes-giving as Petrus Celestinus who repeating that last verse of the last Psalme Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum Let every breath or every one that hath breath praise the Lord breathed out his soule Or in an Act of divine contemplation as Gerson that famous Chancellour of Paris who having explicated fiftie properties of divine love concluded both his Treatise and his life with fortis ut mors dilectio Love is strong as death To knit up all six sorts of men may lay just claime to the blessednesse in my Text. First Martyrs for they die in the Lord because they die in his quarrell Secondly Confessours for they die in the Lord because they die in his faith and in the confession of his name Thirdly all they that love Christ and are beloved of him for they die in the Lord because they die in his bosome and embracings Fourthly all truly penitent sinners for they dye in the Lord because they dye in his peace Firthly all they who are engrafted into Christ by a speciall faith and persever in him to the end for they die in the Lord because they die in his communion as being members of his mysticall body Lastly all they that dye calling upon the Lord or otherwise make a godly end for they dye in the Lord because they dye in the workes of the Lord and happy is that servant whom his Master when hee commeth shall find so doing From hence-forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza and some other render the word in the originall perfectly because the dead obtaine the blessednesse they hoped for but this Exposition cannot stand unlesse wee restraine this blessednesse to the soule For the perfect and consummate happinesse of all that die in the Lord consisteth in the glorification of their bodyes and soules when they shall see God face to face and the beames of his countenance directly falling upon the soule shall reflect also upon the body and most true it is which Paraeus observeth the deads blessednesse farre exceedes the blessednesse of the living for here wee have but the first fruits of happinesse but in heaven wee shall have the whole lumpe here wee hunger and thirst for righteousnesse there wee shall be satisfied To this we all willingly assent but it will not hence follow that they have their whole lumpe of happinesse till the day of Judgement Blessed they are from the houre of their death but not perfectly blessed but not consummatly blessed intensive as blessed as the soule by it selfe can be for that state in which it now is not blessed extensive not so blessed as the whole person shall be when the soule shall bee the second time given to the body and both bid to an everlasting feast at the mariage of the Lambe Others therefore more agreeable to the Analogie of faith render the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from hence-forth and referre the hence-forth not to the time of the uttering this Prophecie as if before it none were blessed for before this prophecie all the Apostles Saint Iohn only excepted and thousands of Saints and Martyrs had died in the Lord and were at rest from their labours but to the instant of their dying in the Lord they no sooner lost their lives for Christ then they found happinesse in him So soone as Lazarus dyed his soule was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome So soone as the Thiefe expired on the Crosse hee aspired to Paradise and was with Christ So Nazianzen teacheth concerning every religious soule I beleeve saith he that every noble soule which is in grace and favour with God presently as soone as shee hath shaken off the body which kept downe her wings flyeth joyfully streight up to her Lord and Saint Cyprian Death to the godly is not a departure but a passe from a temporall to an eternall life and no stay by the way as soone as we have finished our course here we may arrive at the goale there And S. Bernard The infidels call the parting of the soule from the body Death but the beleevers call it the Passeover because it is a passe from death to life For they die to the world that they may perfectly live to God To strike sayle and make toward the shore if all that dye in the Lord are blessed from the very moment of their death and this blessednesse is confirmed by a voyce from heaven let us give more heed to such a voyce then to any whisper of the flesh or divell Whatsoever Philosophie argueth or Reason objecteth or sense excepteth against it let us give more heed to God then man to the spirit then the flesh to faith then to reason to heaven then to earth although they who suffer for the testimonie of the Gospell seeme to be most miserable their skinnes being fleyed off their joynts racked their whole body torne in peeces or burned to ashes their goods confiscate their armes defaced and all manner of disgraces put upon them yet they are most happy in heaven by the testimonie of heaven it selfe the malice of their enemies cannot reach so high as heaven it cannot touch them there there much lesse awake them out of their
sweet sleepe in Jesus Secondly if the dead are blessed in comparison of the living let us not so glew our thoughts and affections to the world and the comforts thereof but that they may bee easily severed for there is no comparison betweene the estate of the godly in this life and in the life to come for here they labour for rest there they rest from their labour here they expect what they are to receive there they receive what they expected here they hunger and thirst for righteousnesse there they are satisfied here they are continually afflicted either for their sinnes or with their sinnes and they have continuall cause to shed teares either for the calamities of Gods people or the strokes they themselves receive from God or the wounds they give themselves there all teares are wiped from their eyes Here they are alwayes troubled either with the evills they feare or the feare of evill but when they goe hence Death sets a period to all feare cares sorrowes and dangers And therefore Solon spake divinely when hee taught Craesus that he ought to suspend his verdict of any mans happinesse till hee saw his end Thirdly if those dead are blessed that dye in the Lord let us strive to be of that number eamus nos moriamur cum eo Let us goe and dye with him and in him And that we may doe so wee must first endevour to live in him For Cornelius à Lapida his collection is most true As a man cannot die at Rome who never lived at Rome so none can dye in Christ who never lived in him and none can live in him who is not in him first then wee must labour to be in him and how may wee compasse this Christ himselfe teacheth us I am the Vine and my Father is the Husbandman every branch that beareth not fruit in me he taketh away and every branch that breareth fruit he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit as the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe exceept it abide in the Vine no more can yee except yee abide in mee Hence wee learne that wee cannot beare fruit in Christ unlesse as branches we be ingrafted into him now that a graffe may be inoculated 1. There must be made an incision in the tree 2. The graffe or syence must be imped in 3. After it is put in it must be ioyned fast to the tree The incision is already made by the wounds given Christ at his death many incisions were made in the true Vine that which putteth us in or inoculateth us is a speciall faith and that which binds us fast to the tree is love and the grace of perseverance If then we bee engrafted by faith into Christ and bound fast unto him by love wee shall partake of the Iuice of the stocke and grow in grace and beare fruit also more and more and so living in the true Vine we shall die in him and so dying in him wee shall reflourish with him in everlasting glorie Fourthly if wee are assured by a voyce from heaven that none but they are blessed who die in the Lord all Infidells Jewes and Turkes yea and such hereticks too as denie all speciall faith in Christ are in a wretched and lamentable case for it is cleare that unbeleevers cannot live in Christ for the just liveth by faith and though hereticks and among them our Adversaries of Rome have a generall faith yet because they want a speciall faith in Christ whereby they are to be ingrafted into him and made members of his mysticall body they can make no proofe to themselves or others at least unlesse they renounce some of the Trent Articles that they live or dye in the Lord. Lastly if all that dye in Christ are blessed as a voyce from heaven assureth us we doe wrong to heaven if we accompt them miserable we doe wrong to Christ if we count them as lost whom he hath found if wee shed immoderate teares for them from whose eyes Hee hath wiped away all teares to weare perpetuall blacks for them upon whom he hath put long white Robes Whatsoever our losses may be by them it commeth farre short of their gaine our crosse is light in comparison of their super-excellent weight of glory therefore let us not sorrow for them as those that have no hope Let us not shew our selves Infidells by too much lamenting the death of beleevers Weepe wâ—… may for them or rather for our losse by them but moderatly as knowing that our losse is their gaine and if wee truly love them wee cannot but exceedingly congratulate their feasts of joy their rivers of pleasures their Palmes of victory their robes of majestie their crownes of glorie Water therefore your plants at the departure of your dearest friends but drowne them not For whatsoever wee complaine of here they are freed from there and whatsoever wee desire here they enjoy there they hunger not but feast with the Lâ—… they sigh not but sing with Moses having safely passed over the glassiâ—… sea they lie not in darknesse but possesse the inheritance of Saints in light They have immunitie from sinne freedome from all temptations and securitie from danger they have rest for their labours here comfort for their troubles glory for their disgrace joyes for their sorrowes life for their death in Christ and Christ for all Cui c. FINIS VICTORIS BRABAEVM OR THE CONQVEROVRS PRIZE A SERMON PREACHED at Rotheriffe at the Funerall of M ris Dorothy Gataker Wife to the worthie and Reverend Divine Master Thomas Gataker B. D. SERMON XLVI APOC. 14. 13. So sayth the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their workes follow them THe longer a man enjoyeth the benefit of life the more cause he hath to desiredeath for cares grow with years and sins with cares sorrows with sins and fears with sorrowes which trouble the quiet and confound the musicke and blend the mirth and dampe the whole joy of our life so that hee who spinneth the thred of his life to the greatest length gaineth nothing thereby but this that hee can give a fuller and clearer evidence of the vanitie of the World and yeeld a more ample testimonie to the miserie of man during his abode in the flesh whom if wee take at the best advantage of his worldly happinesse hee must needs confesse that hee hath nothing of all that is past but a sad remembrance nor of that which is to come but a solicitous feare As after a great feast at which a man hath glutted his appetite nothing remaineth but lothsome and stinking fumes ascending from the stomacke to the head and offending the brain so of all the pleasures of sinne past nothing remaineth but a bitter taste in the conscience or rather to use Saint Bernards Metaphor amara foeda vestigia foule and stinking prints left in the flore where hee daunced after the Devills pipe sorrow and shame for what hee
all met upon one person This is the language of men whereby they aggravate their afflictions and increase impatience in themselves Againe another way whereby they doe it is this By giving vent and free course to their passions Passions are like a wilde horse if they have not reines put upon them if they be not pulled in they will flie out to all excesse If once we give our Passions vent there is no stopping of them David wee see checks himselfe he had a curbe to bridle his passions Why art thou cast downe oh my soule But otherwise when men give the reines to their passion and doe not stop their course but thinke they have reason for it they breake out into all exorbitancie Ionah when the Lord chalenged him for his anger Dost thou well to bee angrie I saith he I doe well to be angrie even to the death So David Oh Absalom my sonne would God I had died for thee oh Absalom my sonne my sonne What hurt was done to David what wrong had the man to take on thus his sonne was tooke from him but it was Absalom Absalom died but it was Absolom that would have killed his father and yet he takes on as if the father could not live because the sonne that sought his death was tooke from him Such unreasonable Passions such causelesse distempers oft-times are in the soules of men that they mistake Gods wayes and that very way that he intendeth them good in they complaine of as if it were their utter undoing Againe thirdly another way whereby men increase their impatience and distemper is when they will not give way to comfort they will not onely bee exceeding vehement and intent upon their Passions but besides stop all passages and in-lets against comfort It was Iacobs fault concerning the death of Ioseph When he heard that Ioseph was dead not onely his heart sunke within him but hee rends his garments and covereth himselfe with sack-cloth he takes on so that when his sonnes and children rose up to comfort him he would not be comforted Why Because Ioseph was not and I will goe to the grave to Ioseph nothing would comfort Iacob but he would goe downe to the grave to Ioseph by all meanes What a great matter was this He only heard that Ioseph was dead he was alive he knew not so much but hee heard a present sound of feare and he was carried away with that So it is with us the very apprehension of our feares are as bad to us as the things themselves could possibly be Nay we multiply upon our selves our feares and we will not heare counsell and comfort as Rachel that mourned for her children and would not bee comforted because they were not Againe a fourth thing whereby men increase impatience in themselves and aggravate their sorrowes is this when men looke onely upon the present afflictions and not upon the mercies they have as if they had but one eye to behold all objects with as if they could looke but upon one thing at once there should bee a looking upon the affliction and there should bee a looking upon the mercy too This was Hamans case when he was vexed that Mordecay did not doe him reverence all his wealth and his honours could doe him no good he had much wealth and the glory of his house was increased he had the favour of the King and was inclining to have the honour of the Queene put upon him yet all this availeth me nothing saith he so long as I see Mordecay the Iew sitting in the Kings gate Hee lookes onely on this particular that vexed and grieved him and not upon the rest So it is with us if there be but one particular affliction upon us we fix our eyes upon that Like a Flie that flieth about the glasse and can sticke no where till she come to some cracke or as a Gnat that commeth about the body of a beast that will be sure to sticke on the galled part or some sore or other So it is with these disquieted thoughts of men that are of no other use but to further Sathans ends to weaken their faith and discourage their owne hearts men sticke on the gall on the sore of any affliction there they will rest It is true God hath given us such and such favours and mercies hath offered us such and such opportunities but what is this this and that particular affliction is upon me This is that that increaseth impatience when a man will not looke on the mercies he receiveth but onely lookes on that that he wanteth Againe a fifth course that men take to aggravate their sorrows and increase impatience in themselves is this They looke upon the instrument of their sorrows and afflictions but never looke up to God that ruleth and over-ruleth these things Men looke upon such a person such a man and no more Yee see how David was disquieted at this If it had beene an enemie that reproached him then he could have borne it but it was thou my friend my equall my guide my acquaintance that sate at my table wee tooke sweet counsell together and walked unto the house of God in company This troubled him and see how he multiplied his sorrowes when hee looked upon the instrument till he looked upon God and then I was dumbe I opened not my mouth because thou didst it There is no quiet in the heart when a man lookes upon man till hee lookes upon God that ordereth all things by his wisedome and counsell Lastly men aggravate their sorrowes and increase their impatience by another course they take that is when they looke on their sorrows and afflictions onely and not upon the benefit of affliction they looke only upon that that flesh would avoyde but not that which if they were spirituall and wise they would desire No affliction saith the Apostle is joyous for the time that is to flesh and nature but grievous neverthelesse afterward it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse to them which are exercised thereby Now men looke upon that only which is grievous in affliction upon the smart of it but not upon the profit of Affliction the quiet fruit of righteousnesse that commeth by it As a man when he hath a Corroding plaister put to a sore he cryeth and complaineth of the smart it putteth him to but takes no notice of the healing that commeth by it and the cure that followeth Thus it is with men they complaine of God as if he envied them the comfort of their lives as if he intended to robbe them of all conveniencies and to make them utterly miserable to begin a Hell with them on earth when they never looke how God by this meanes fitteth them for heaven by this meanes purging out corruption and strengthening grace in them Wee are afflicted of the Lord that we may not be condemned of the world Men looke upon the affliction
not upon their freedome from condemnation So much for that I come now to a second use You see here the way whereby men aggravate afflictions and get causes of impatience in themselves and if we seriously consider it wee shall find one of these the ordinary causes of all distempers and impatience in losses in sicknesses in distresse of mind in crosses upon a mans name or whatsoever befalleth him amisse in the world that which makes him flie out that which makes him that he cannot submit unto God it is some of these particulars here spoken of Let it therefore in the second place stirre us up every one in the presence of God to set our selves upon this taske of Christianitie to labour for Patience that we may be perfect Christians and to be perfect in Patience Let Patience have her perfect worke But all the question is how a man may get it As there are two sorts of afflictions in a mans life so Patience hath two offices One affliction is those present evils that a man undergoeth and suffereth here Patience is to support him in those present miseries and calamities Another sort of tryall is when the good that a man expects is delayed and is not presently granted and here patience is necessarie in this case also I will shew yee how a man may set patience a worke in both these and so conclude First for the present calamities of a mans life For crosses of any kind in name state friends or familie or in whatsoever a man hath or goeth about they may all be reduced to this one head when a man commeth from a state of health to a state of sicknesse from a state of comfort to a state of sorrow from acquaintance and societie to be as a Pelican in the wildernesse as David speakes destitute of all friends and helpes from inward rejoycing in his heart in the assurance of Gods love to spirituall disertions wherein he seemeth to be as in a cloude under the frownes of God When a man is in this case how shall he exercise patience how shall he come to it Briefly the way for a man to get patience in such cases as these is this First to consider that there is no change in my life there is no condition whatsoever that I am cast into but it is ordered by God Set thy soule aworke now to give God his glory in that change of thy life First give God the glory of his absolute Soveraignty and Dominion Secondly give him the glory of his wisdome Thirdly give him the glory of his mercy in those changes of thy life that seeme most grievous to thee First I say give him the glory of his absolute soveraignty Acknowledge him an absolute in-dependant Lord that doth what he will among the creatures His will is the rule of all his actions upon the creatures here below and uncontrould unquestionable It is high arrogancy and presumption and pride of spirit for the creature to contest with his Creator concerning his actions on earth Let every man reason thus I must give God the glory of his Soveraignty and acknowledge that he hath power and right to rule all the families of the earth and why not mine as well as another Why not my person as well as anothers Why not to order all the changes of my life as well as another mans That which Benhadad spake proudly to Ahab thy silver and thy gold thy wives and thy children and thy house and thy Citie are mine That may God speake truely and by right All that thou hast and all that thou art is mine therefore give him that glory that Iob did in the change of his life The Lord hath given the Lord hath taken away blessed bee the name of the Lord. The Lord that gave hath right to take what he will There is nothing that will keepe the creature in his due place but the consideration of Gods absolute soveraigntie This consideration was that that meekned the spirit of Eli when that heavy message was brought to him that there should come such miserie upon his house that whosoever heard it both his eares should tingle well saith he It is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good It is the Lord and it becommeth not servants to stand and contend with their Lord. So David when the Priests offered him their service to goe along with him to the field from Absolom If saith he I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back to Ierusalem and his tabernacle but if he thus say I have no delight in thee behold here am I let him doe to mee as seemeth good unto him Here was that that humbled the spirit of David when he considered that he was under the hands of an absolute Lord let the Lord do with me what seemeth him good Secondly as thou must give him the glory of his soveraignty so of his wisedome Know that God ordereth all his wayes with wisedome and counsell he knoweth what is good for his children Yee are content when yee are sicke that the Phisitian should diet yee because yee account him wise and one that hath skill in that course If God diet thee for the purging out of some corruption and for the curing of some spirituall disease in thy soule submit to God in this case be willing to resigne thy selfe up to be ordered by him A man that hath a Gangreene or such a dangerous disease in his body submitteth to the Surgeon in his course though it be to the cutting and sawing off of a limbe though it bee never so painfull and the losse be never so great yet hee is for the saving of his life willing to have that taken away God is a wise God that knoweth what estate is best for thee not onely when tryals are better then comforts but what one kind of tryall is better then another it may be it is better to exercise one with povertie another with disgrace another with spirituall trouble another with restraint of libertie which particular tryall is necessary to cure that disease and which this that is in my soule the heavenly Phisitian will bring that upon thee as a spirituall prescription and a heavenly course that he takes in infinite wisdome to cure thee Lastly give him in all this the glory of his mercie What hast thou lost but thou maiest have lost a great deale more What dost thou suffer but thou maiest have suffered a great deale more As Alcibiades when he was told that one had stolne halfe his plate I have cause saith he rather to bee thankefull that hee tooke no more then to be troubled that he tooke so much I am sure it is true of God in this case what hath God tooke from thee some part of thy estate some friend some comfort of thy life some one or other particular comfort could he not have done more Hee afflicteth
excellencies diminished by all his sufferings you see Christ in the dayes of his flesh he cast divells out of men and they obeyed him The divells were subject unto him when he conversed among men in the body nay on the Crosse he saved the Thiefe that confessed him in the sight of all his enemies when he was a crucified Christ at that instant he triumphed on the very crosse and saved a sinner that beleeved at that time to shew that he was as mightie on the Crosse as he is now at the right hand of the Father Now I say is not Christs glory a whit diminished in his abasement why should our beleefe bee abated for all the scorne and despite of the world that is cast upon the profession of the faith of Christ Now briefly some application of this and so to take in the rest without amplification because the time is past It should teach us in all disquiet to know what course is to bee taken every one will say I rest upon God there is sufficient in him to make me happy But how shall I come to have interest in God The well is deepe where is the bucket what is the meanes to relieve my soule and to supply my wants Beleeve in me saith Christ let the soule looke on Christ immediatly as the Mediator betweene God and us this is that I should have spoken of and a word of exhortation to the purpose You will say what is it to beleeve in Christ. The first thing that is done in this is receiving Christ upon Gods offer of him God offers Christ in all his offices as King Priest and Prophet as a Lord and Saviour to the Church and hee would have men take whole Christ or no part of him Now if the soule answer to this offer of God he shall be my Lord to rule me my Prophet to instruct me my Saviour upon whom my soule shall rest for salvation this is the answer of the soule to God this is the receiving Now you must know there must be a right propounding and a right apprehending of Christ. You must know first what it is to receive Christ as a Prophet as one that will instruct us in the truths that are contrarie to naturall principles in the corrupt understanding of man he will leade you now in the way of the Wildernesse in by pathes in crooked rough wayes he will teach you to deny your selves The first rule that he gives is for a man to deny himselfe as if he should say that is the first worke hee died to pull downe all the old frame and to set it up againe For what is the understanding of man but a frame of false principles for the naturall minde of man it is nothing but a habit a heape a pile of false principles that every man perisheth by the delusion of his owne understanding now the first worke of Christ is to dissolve this frame and to blot out these rules wherby men walke when they are led by sence and naturall reason and observation of the world now these must all be taken away and a man must resolve all now into the authority of Christs speaking A word of Christ is enough against a thousand examples in the world and against a thousand reasons of a mans owne corrupt heart This is to receive Christ as a Prophet when I will not walke by the rules of my deluded reason and corrupt minde after which I was carried before but the Word of Christ shall carry mee in all things here is obedience of faith in matter of Doctrine And so to receive Christ as a King would you know what a King he is hee is a holy King whose lawes are all right the Law of Faith is a righteous Law and the obedience of Faith must be obedience to righteousnesse that is righteous obedience wherein a man labours more and more to perfit holines in the feare of God Hence comes all that care to mortifie corruptions and to frame the inward man to conforme to those rules that are taught by Christ as a Prophet the soule receiving Christ as a King gives it self to obey all the rules and directions that Christ in his Word as a Prophet hath left and this it doth in faith that is looking upon his authoritie that hath commanded it for that is properly an act of faith when things are done upon this ground upon the authoritie of him that hath revealed it I beleeve it to bee his will because hee hath revealed it and it is my dutie because it is his will Thus the soule resolves all to Christ as a Prophet and a King And then it rests on him as a Priest and comforts it selfe in Spirit now for a man when he wants comfort hee must not seperate the offices of Christ and say I will rest on Christ as a Priest these are errours and delusions Shall a man be saved by a halfe Faith by a peece of Faith To looke on Christ in one office and to thinke to bee saved onely by that without concurring and concomitating in the other offices Beloved as Christ is intire in all his offices so the faith of a beleever is intire looking upon all his offices therefore wee must receive him as King Priest and Prophet that hee may be wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption that he may bee all to the beleeving soule for present and for future happinesse else if Christ bee not all he will be nothing men must not please themselves to looke upon one office of Christ and to neglect all the rest When this is done come to the maine matter the soule is beaten off as when a man is in a Boate getting to land after shipwracke there comes a storme and beats him backe againe when he thinkes hee is even at the shore but still hee takes hold on the Boate and keepes his eye upon the shore So the soule when it comes to this to be beate off againe still it keepes the shore in its sight and directs it selfe towards Christ that should bee the end and ayme of all a mans indeavours the true object of faith I beseech you consider this point But a man will say though I be carefull to receive him I speake of weake Christians or of strong Christians that are weakened by temptations Alas what hope have I in Christ Christ is in heaven and I am upon the earth Did Christ when he was upon the earth so tender the trouble of his servants at that time as that when hee himselfe was to suffer yet he tooke care to comfort them be not you troubled but beleeve in me As if hee should say though I bee exposed to a world of trouble and at this time my soule is heavy unto death yet be not troubled was he so carefull when he was in his owne troubles on earth to comfort them and will he not now be so in heaven when hee is in blessednesse
in the garnishing and sauce of every dish smell in the stench of every dead corpses feele in the beating of every pulse yet we are not sensible of it wee will not take knowledge of it though we cannot be ignorant of it In which consideration the Wise man whose words are as goads and nailes vers 11. pricks us deepe with the remembrance hereof so deepe that hee drawes blood sanguinem animâ—… the blood of the soule as Saint Austin tearmeth our teares lachrymae sanguis animae For who can reade with drye eyes that tbose that looke out of the windowes shall bee darkened Who can heare without horrour that the keepers of the house shall tremble or consider without sorrow that the daughters of musicke shall be brought low or comment without deepe fetched sighes upon mans going to his long home and the mourners going about the streetes to wash them with teares and sweepe them with Rosemarie Origen after he had chosen rather facere periculosè quam perpeti turpitèr to burne Incense to the Heathen gods then to suffer his body to be defiled by a Blackamore and the flower of his chastitic which he had so long time preserved to be some way blasted at a Church in Ierusalem goeth into the Pulpit openeth the Bible at all adventures intending to preach upon that Text which he should first light upon but falling upon that verse in Psal. 50. But to the wicked saith God what hast thou to doe to declare my statutes or that thou shouldest take my covenants in thy mouth which contained his suspension shutteth his booke speaketh not a word more but comments upon it with his teares so me thinkes having read this Text in which I find all our capitall doomes written I cannot doe better then follow that Fathers prefident and shut up not only my booke but my mouth also and seale up my lippes and comment upon the coherence with distraction the parts with passion the notes with sighes the periods with groanes and the words with teares for alas as soone as a man commeth into his short booth in this world which he saluteth with teares he goeth to his long home in the next And the mourners goe about the streetes It is lamentable to heare the poore infant which cannot speake yet to boad his owne misery and to prophecie of his future condition and what are the contents of his Prophecie but lamentations mournings and woes Saint Cyprian accords with Saint Austin in his dolefull note Vitae mortalis anxietates dolores procellas mundi quas ingreditur in exordio statim suo ploratu vel gemitu rudes animae testatur Little children newly borne take in their first breath with a sigh and come crying into the world assoone as they open their eyes they shed teares to helpe fill up the Vale of teares into which they were then brought and shall bee after a short time carried out with a streame of them running from the eyes of all their friends And if the Prologue and Epilogue bee no better what shall wee judge of the Scenes and Acts of the life of man they yeeld so deepe springs of teares and such store of arguments against our aboad in this world that many reading them in the bookes of Hegesias the Platonicke presently brake the prison of their body and leaped out of the world into the grave others concluded with Silenus Optimum non nasci proximum quam primum mori That it was simply best never to be borne the next to it to die out of hand and give the world our salve and take our vale at once How-be-it though this might passe for a sage Essay and a strong line amongst Philosophers yet wee Christians who know that this present life to all that live godly in Christ Iesus how full of troubles cares and persecutions so ever it bee is but a sad and short Preface to endlesse Volumnes of joy an Eves fast on earth to an everlasting feast in Heaven ought thus to correct the former Apophthegme Optimum renasci proximum quam primùm mori That it is best to be new borne and then if it so please God after our new birth to bee translated with all speed into the new Heaven But soft we cannot take our degrees in Christs schoole per saltem we must keepe our Termes and performe our exercises both of faith obedience and patience wee must not looke from the Font to be presently put into the rivers of pleasures springing at Gods right hand for evermore Wee must take a toylesome journey and in it often drinke of the waters of Marahâ—… Wee must suffer with Christ before wee reigne with him Wee must taste of the bitter cup of his Passion before wee drinke new Wine with him in his Kingdome wee must sowe in teares here that wee may reape in joy hereafter Every man goeth though some set out sooner some later and shall arive at his home but let him looke to his way as the way is he taketh so shall the home be into which he is received if he take the way on the right hand and keepe within the pathes of Gods commandements his home shall be the New Ierusalem descending from God most gloriously shining with streetes of gold gates of pearle and foundations of precious stones where all teares shall be wiped from his eyes but if he take the broad way on the left hand and follow it his home shall be a dungeon or vault in Hell where he shall be eternally both mourner and Corps But to shoot somewhat nearer to the marke Marriages and Funeralls though most different actions and of a seeming contrary nature yet are set forth and as it were apparelled with parallell rites and ceremonies our raiments are changed in both because in both our estate is changed Bells are rung flowers are strowed and feasts kept in both and anciently both were celebrated in the night by Torch-light Hee that hath but halfe an eye may see in the Ritualls of the Ancients the blazing and sparkling as well of the funeriall as the nuptiall lights and no marvaile the shadowes meete when the substances concurre the pictures resemble one the other when the faces match the accessaries are corresponding where the principalls are sutable as here they are for in marriage single life dyeth and in death the soule is married to Christ The couple to bee married in ancienter times first met and after an enterview and liking of each other and a contract signed betweene them presently departed the Bride to her Mother the Bridegroome to his Fathers house till the wedding day on which the Bridegroome late in the night was brought to his Spouse and then hee tooke her and inseparably linked him selfe unto her Here the couple to bee married in man are the bodie and the soule at our birth the contract is made but after a short enterview and small abode together the parties are parted and the bodie the Bride