of this that thou art an Heir of Heaven arm thy self against the sears of Death let Death be terrible to those whose portion is solely and wholly in this life whom Death separates from all the good they have and hope for As for thee who art a Child of God an Heir of Heaven why shouldst thou fear Death that doth but put thee into the actual possession of thy Inheritance Ejus est mortem timere qui ad Christum nolit ire ejus est ad Christum nolle ire qui se non credit cum Christo incipere regnare saith Cyprian Let him fear Death that is unwilling to go to Christ let him be unwilling to go to Christ that doth not believe he is a Joynt-Heir with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven The same Cyprian speaks of a man that when he lay a dying with some unwillingness and lothness to dye had a Vision of one like the Son of Man appearing by him saying to him with some kind of indignation Pati timetis exire non vultis quid faciam pro vobis You are afraid to suffer you are not willing to depart what shall I do for you O think what a shame it is for those who when they do hope for this Inheritance to be so unwilling and loth to die as that Jesus Christ should have occasion thus to speak unto them A fourth Duty we should learn from hence is To walk worthy of this Inheritance And so First Far be it from those who profess and believe themselves to be Heirs of Heaven to be eager and covetous and greedy of earth and earthly things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If a King saith Chrysostom should take a Beggar from the Dunghil and make him the Heir of his Crown and be after this should go up and down a begging from door to door and be as solicitous about his raggs and patched clothes as he was before he was adopted to that Inheritance would not this be a disgrace to himself and to the King that had adopted him and would not all the World condemn him as a man of a base and dunghil spirit unworthy of that Honour and that Inheritance that was cast upon him For thee that art a Christian whom God hath taken from the Dunghil and made an Heir of Heaven for thee to be as greedy of the world as gripple of a half-peny or a peny as if thou wert one of the Worlds beggars still this is a base ignoble thing unworthy of such an Heir as thou dost pretend thy self to be Therefore abhor it away with it Secondly If thou be an Heir of Heaven labour to be content with thy present condition whatever it be in expectation and assurance of that Inheritance thou hopest for There is many a great Heir when he is in his minority lives in a pretty mean condition and makes nothing of it bears it all with patience he knows it will be better with him one day when he comes to Age there is a fair Estate coming to him and in the thoughts of that he comforts himself in his present condition So thou that art an Heir of Heaven though at the present thou livest barely and goest near the wind yet content and comfort thy self with this Thou hast a rich and glorious Inheritance reserved for thee in the highest Heavens when once thou comest to the enjoyment of that thou shalt be full and want nothing This was it which made the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob content with a poor pilgrim life and condition a wandring state and condition because they looked for a better Country and when this took up their hearts then they could chearfully sit down in their Tents they could dwell in strange Countries they could go on in obedience to God what way soever he called them readily and so should we Thirdly Never fret nor repine at the happiness and prosperity of the Wicked When we see them swimming and bathing in all that affluence of good things which Job or David expresseth Job 21. and Psalm 73. They have Corn and Wine and Oyl and Gold and Silver and House and Lands and Children to inherit them Thou poor thou hast none of these things but hast thou Heaven though but in reversion never trouble thy self thy portion is an hundred thousand times better than theirs Was it any grief of heart think ye to Isaac to see the sons of Keturah have great gifts bestowed upon them by Abraham one of them it may be so many thousand Yoak of Oxen another so many thousand Sheep and Camels a third so many Talents of Gold and Silver as long as Isaac had the Inheritance this was no grief of heart to him Much good may it do them thinks he as long as the Inheritance is mine So say thou Much good may it do the World with all their Wealth and Riches as long as Heaven is mine I envy them not Thus much for the two first things Heaven is an Inheritance This Inheritance is a Gift I come now to the third and that is this That God gives the Inheritance of Heaven to his Children by his Word Therefore the Gift of this Inheritance is in part ascribed to the Word Which is able to build you up and give you an Inheritance A Father gives such or such an Inheritance to his Child by Testament or by Instrument in writing The Word of God it is Testamentum it is Instrumentum whereby God conveyeth the Inheritance of Heaven to his Saints and Children First God reveals by his Word that there is such an Inheritance reserved in the Heavens which were it not that God had revealed it in his Word the weak heart of sinful and fallen man could have no true notions or conceptions of For eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him The poor Heathens did stumble upon the Notion of Eternal rewards and punishments but alas fell as far short of the true Notion of those rewards and punishments as Earth is of Heaven But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit 1 Cor. 2.10 that is by his Spirit in his Word Secondly As God reveals this Inheritance to us by his Word so secondly God makes offer of this Inheritance to us in his Word and invites and calls us to the participation of it 2 Thess 2.13 14. God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvution whereunto he called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ Thirdly As God revealeth this Inheritance and calls and invites to the participation of it so God in his Word specifies who and what manner of persons they are upon whom he will bestow it Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven which the righteous Judge shall give and not to me only but to all that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4.8
Master Necdum effusum erat venenum in Ecclesiam But the Apostles of Christ walked in the steps of their Lord and Master being meek and lowly of heart Matth. 11.29 and thereby approving themselves to be the true Ministers of Christ Whereas Pride and disdain of others is a property and badge not of the Servants of Christ but of Antichrist It is a notable Story that which Beda tels in the second Book of his Ecclesiastical History and the second chapter that when Austin the Monke whom some are ambitious to make the Apostle of England When he was sent by Pope Gregory the great to preach to the Angles or Saxons that dwelt in this Land he found a considerable company of the Britans the ancient and native Inhabitants of this Country professing the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and living religiously and devoutly only differing from the then Church of Rome in some Circumstances as in point of the keeping of Easter and some Ceremonies used in Baptism the like whereupon he called a Council or a Synod and invites the Britans thither and accordingly divers of the most Learned and Religious among them applied themselves to the journey but in the way they judged it convenient to take the advice of one that was of great Eminency for Prudence and Holiness of life et Anachoreticam ducebat vitam and to enquire of him whether they should be perswaded by Austin to leave their ancient Customs and follow his or no. His answer to them was Si Homo Dei sit sequimini eum If he be a man of God follow him But say they How shall we be sure of that Why saith he again Our Lord saith Take my Yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart If therefore saith he this Austin be meek and lowly of heart it is a sign that he hath taken the Yoke of Chrict upon him and offers no other yoke to you but if he be superbus immitis if he be haughty and proud Constat eum non esse de Deo it is manifest that he is not of God neither are ye to regard what he saith But say they again How shall we know this how shall we know whether he be proud or lowly Why saith he order it so that He and his Party may come first to the place of meeting and if when you come in he riseth up to you know that he is the Servant of Christ and hear him obediently But if he despise you and will not so much as rise off his seat to you do you despise him Fecerunt ut dixerat They did as he directed them and Austin not rising up to them at their coming in they concluded him a proud man and set themselves the more to oppose him But if we enlarge the Persons and take in not only the Elders but the rest of the Church supposing them present upon the place as I have shewed before we have probable cause to do than the term Brethren may afford unto us this Observation Obs That there is a near relation even the relation of Brethren between Preachers and People founded upon the account of Religion and Grace This near relation is sometimes expressed under the notion of Father and Children I speak unto you as unto my Children 2 Cor. 6.13 My little Children with whom I travel in birth Gal. 4.19 I have no greater joy than to hear that my Children walk in Truth 3 John 14. Sometimes this near relation is expressed under the notion of a Nurse and Children so 1 Thess 2.7 But we were gentle among you even as a Nurse cherisheth her Children But most ordinarily and frequently it is expressed by this notion of Brother or Brethren this is the Compellation wherewith the Apostle and other Ministers of the Gospel do ordinarily salute their People both in their Preaching and in their Writings to them as is obvious to all that reade the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles Ministers and People they are Brethren and that upon the account of Religion and Grace They have the same Father even God who is pleased to own the one and the other for his Children For we are all the Children of God by Faith in Jesus Christ Gal. 3.26 They have all one Mother not Rome nor Antioch nor any other Church upon Earth but the Jerusalem which is above the Mother of us all Gal. 4.26 They have all sucked the same breasts Isa 66.11 That you may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her Consolation They all feed at the same Table they eat the same Spiritual Bread and drink the same Spiritual Drink 1 Cor. 10. They all are Heirs of the same Promises and wait for the same Inheritance I say Ministers and People that are true Believers in all these respects therefore are Brethren Only look as it is in a Family where there are many Children many Brothers and Sisters one of these is the first-born and he though a Brother yet he is an Elder-Brother and he hath some Priviledges above the rest So it is here In the first Ages of the World the Priviledges of the first-born consisted in these three things 1. That the Publick and Solemn Worship of God was administred in the Family and for the Family by the First-born he was Priest and Prophet of the Family 2. That next unto the Father himself the First-born was the Prince and Governour of the Family 3. That a double Portion of the Estate went to the First-born as his Inheritance And all these Priviledges were founded upon that claim which God made unto the first-born as his right upon which they were consecrated and set apart to God Exod. 13. Afterwards all these Priviledges in the Church of the Old Testament were devolved upon the Levites whom God took instead of all the first-born of Israel Numb 3.12 And now in the Church of the New-Testament this Honour and these Priviledges are conferred upon the Ministers of the Gospel whom God hath set in the place of the Levites under the Law Isa 66.21 I will take of them for Priests and Levites saith the Lord. So that now the Ministers of the Gospel they are as it were the first-born Brethren Now the Use of this may be First To inform us that the Authority and Power of Ruling which Ministers have in the Church of God which is the House of God it is not Despotical or Lordly or Magisterial such as Superiours have over those that are absolutely and every way their Inferiours but it is rather Social such as one Brother hath over another importing rather a Priority of Order than an Imparity of Degree The Apostle disclaims all such Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 1.24 We are not Lords over your Faith but Helpers of your Joy Secondly That Ministers and People Preachers and Hearers are all Brethren this shews what endeared affections Ministers and People ought to bear each to other How
God is able to build you up The Word of God is able to build up the Saints it is able to convert them which is the greater therefore it is able to build them up which is the lesser it is able to save their souls Jam. 1.21 which is the end therefore it is able to build them up which is but in tendency to that end Hence it is that the Word of God is compared to tools or instruments wherewith men build to an Ax Mat. 3. to an Hammer and to Fire Jer. 23. And here It is able to build up but how not of it self no more than an Ax or an Hammer can build a House of it self but God working with the Word and by the Word as an Instrument The Word is able to build up the Saints The weapons of our warfare saith the Apostle speaking of the Ministry of the VVord are mighty through God 2 Cor. 10.4 Therefore the Apostle here joyns God and the VVord together I commend you to God and the VVord of his Grace which is able God by the VVord of his Grace is able to build you up not the VVord alone without God Now this building up imports two things 1. Preservation from decay 2. Progress and carrying on unto Perfection Now the Word is able to do both these First It is able to preserve and keep the Saints from decaying in their Graces from decaying in Faith and Holiness Secondly It is able to carry them from Grace and build them up to more perfection Let this then be a comfort to all the upright-hearted People who it may be are now full of fear that they shall decay and wither away and come to nothing especially when there is such a great and visible decay of Preachers and Preaching in the Land who alas when they had the VVord constantly and instantly preached and pressed upon them in season and out of season had yet much ado to hold on their course then and now so many of their faithful able Teachers are removed from them are ready to think What shall they do now what will become of them they shall never be able to hold out Well Christians fear not as long as God lives and as his VVord lives and you are commended to them and resigned up to them you are safe enough well enough God is able and the VVord of God is able to keep you from falling away Jude 24. He is able to build you up and he will do it assure your selves God will never suffer it to be said concerning him as of that man in the Parable This man begun to build but was not able to finish Luke 14.30 VVhich is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified Qu. This Inheritance here spoken of what is it Ans That which the Apostle speaks of Col. 1.12 and calls an Inheritance among the Saints in Light And which the Apostle Peter speaks of 1 Pet. 1.4 and calls an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved for us in the Heavens So that this state of Happiness and Glory in the Life to come is it which the Apostle means by this Inheritance An Inheritance among all them that are sanctified Several Doctrines are observable from hence First That Heaven and the Happiness of it is an Inheritance Secondly That this Inheritance of Heaven it is a Gift Thirdly That God gives this Inheritance by his VVord which is able to build you up and give you an Inheritance Fourthly That Heaven is only for sanctified Persons It is an Inheritance among them that are sanctified Fiftly That Heaven is for all sanctified Persons It is an Inheritance among ALL THEM that are sanctified First Heaven is an Inheritance So Ephes 1.11 In whom also we have obtained an Inheritance and v. 14. Which is the earnest of our Inheritance Col. 1.12 Heb. 925. and in many other places Hence it is that the Saints in Scripture are so often called Heirs Heirs according to Promise Gal. 3.29 and Heirs of Grace 1 Pet. 3.7 Heirs of Salvation Heb. 1.14 Heirs of the Kingdom James 2.5 Heirs of God yea Co-heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 where I pray mark that Believers are said to be joynt-heirs with Christ not joynt-purchasers with Christ no Christ is Sole-Purchaser of Life and Glory but he is pleased of his Free Grace to admit the Saints into partnership with him of that Inheritance which he hath purchased They are therefore said to be Heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Jesus Christ They are said to be Heirs of God in respect of the Person whose Heirs they are as a man is said to be such a mans Heir They are said to be joynt-heirs with Christ in respect of the Person in whose right the Inheritance falls to them They are said to be Heirs of Life and Salvation in respect of the Matter and Substance of the Inheritance They are said to be Heirs of Grace and Promise in respect of the way and means whereby they come for to have claim to this Inheritance Haereditas saith the Civil Lawyer est Successio in universum jus defuncti When a man dyes and leaves his whole Estate House Lands Money Goods and all he had to another he that there succeedeth in his whole Estate is Haeres exasse his sole Heir Now truly Believers cannot in this sense be said to be the Heirs of God nor can the happiness and glory of the Life to come upon this account be said to be an Inheritance for God is Immortal and therefore this Inheritance is not Successio in jus defuncti And yet nevertheless the happiness of the Saints in the Life to come is called an Inheritance and the Saints are said to be Heirs of God First Because as an Heir entering upon the whole Estate of all that that was that mans whose Heir he is he enjoyeth it all So the Saints being the Heirs of God possess and enjoy all the good things that are in God they have Right to them here in this life but they possess and enjoy them in the Life to come Secondly Because as ordinarily men make their children their Heirs natural children if they have any or if they have none they adopt some into their family and make them first their children then their Heirs so it is here all that are the Heirs of God they are the Children of God not by Nature but by the Grace of Adoption Rom. 8.17 If Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joynt-heirs with Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the Only Son of God by Nature and He is the Heir of all things Heb. 1.2 Believers being by Faith united and joyned to Christ they become thereby the Adopted Children of God and Joynt-heirs with Christ and this Grace of Adoption and Co-heirship Jesus Christ himself hath purchased for them with his own Blood Thirdly Because as an Inheritance it is Largissima Compensatio a large and abundant recompence of all that