hear the Voice of others is a scarcely audible Whisper Some have but a Drop of the Oil of Joy others in comparison a very Sea of it However this is asserted of all Believers The Joy of Faith is the chief Joy of every sort of them Of them that want it none dare to slight it None can rest or be very easy till they have it The New Nature in them panteth for it as the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks And as oft as they get from under the foresaid Obstructions §. 1. Believers do truly rejoice in their Victory over Death Here Examples shall show THAT they do so and Reasons shall satisfy WHY they must so do The Time would fail to tell of Abraham foreseeing the Day and Work of his victorious Lord and rejoicing in it Of Jacob cheering himself under heaviest Pressures with the same comforting Prospect Of Job insulting over Death and glorying in his Assurance of a blessed Resurrection Of David proclaiming that his God would not leave him in Death And that he would fear no Evil when he walk'd through the Valley of its Shadow The Heart of the Saints of the Old Testament is to be seen in the Song of Solomon Hear it uttering it self to the Lord Jesus Christ We will be glad and rejoice in thee In thee that is by whose Stripes we are healed In thee on whom the Lord hath laid the Iniquities of us all and by the Faith of whom he justifieth us In thee to whom a Portion is divided with the Great and who dost divide the Spoil with the Strong as the Evangelical Prophet speaks We will remember thy redeeming Love more than Wine I sat down under his Shadow with great Delight and his Fruit was sweet to my Taste Consult with these Manifesto's the Psalms and Songs of his Father David It shall appear that the Church was dancing for Joy before the Day brake and the Shadows flew away and the Sun of Righteousness arose with the Light and Glory of the New Testament Under which who needs to be told what a Spirit of Joy was presently poured out Glad Tidings of great Joy the heavenly Heralds call'd the Gospel Where-ever it comes a Torrent of Joy follows it Gladly it is received at its first Publication though with the loss of all things adventured Philip preaches it at Samaria and there is great Joy in all the City We glory in Tribulations We rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory We are more than Conquerours We are always confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. We are always rejoycing We rejoice in the Hope of the Glory of God Thus speak the Apostles as well of their Converts as of Themselves And what saith Ecclesiastical History of the Ages ever since The same Spirit of Joy and Gladness hath been in all times of the Church They that have loved the Lord Jesus have rejoiced in him And in his Name have wished for Death have welcomed it and have been unterrified with its most ghastly Shapes and Pomps Polycarp desires his Executioners to let him shew them that he could burn at a Stake without being tied to it Lucius thanketh a barbarous Judg for the Favour of sending him to his God and Father Cyprian thanks God for his Goal-delivery by Death Hilarion cries Out of this Body O my Soul What is there any thing for thee to fear For thee an old Servant of Christ But to come nigher our own days Cranmer thrusts his Right-hand into the Fire to be revenged on it for subscribing a Damned Scroll as he called it for fear of Death Think you that I have not learned to die said Adam Damlip Be at my burning you shall see and say There 's a Souldier of Christ said Kirby Ridley called his Death his Wedding And Latimer told the Bishop going before him to the Stake he would have after him as fast as he could And when Fire was put to him with a smiling Face he uttered these Words God is faithful who doth not suffer us to be tempted above our Strength Bainam in the Fire professed he felt no more Pain than on a Bed of Down Death in the most hideous Shapes hath been thus triumphed over Clouds of Instances are to be read even in English Books And do we not know Multitudes of surviving Friends and Neighbours whom we discern to be of the Mind of the Martyr Adam Wallack If Death be ready we are ready Blessed be God this Age is not so forsaken by him but that there are Multitudes to whom Christ's Word is verified Your Heart shall rejoice and your Joy shall no Man take from you Is it yet with any of you a hard Saying which holy Hildersam hath written He that doth not desire and strive to be willing to die he hath cause to suspect that there is no true saving Grace in him Or that harmonious Passage of great Calvin on Hebrews 2.14 He that is not able to quiet his Heart in holy Contempt of Death let him know that he hath made but little progress in the Faith of Christ For as excessive Fear of Death ariseth from Ignorance of the Grace of Christ so it is a sure Sign of Vnbelief Or that of Dr. Hammond on 1 Tim. 1.15 If the Conversion of a Sinner be not accompanied with unwonted Joy and Sorrow a Godly Sense of past Distress and a Godly Triumph for his Delivery I counsel not to Distrust but to Fear to a solicitous though not a suspicious Trembling Let me add one more of Mr. Ward of Ipswich If we had but half the Strength of St. Paul 's Faith or Life of his Hope or Fore-imaginations which he had of his future Felicity we could not but have the same Desires and Longings for our Fruition of them I think few Truths to be more evident But it 's possible that these following Reasons may add to its Evidence These Reasons I give why Believers must needs rejoice in their Victory over Death First Believers are Men And it is the Nature of Man to rejoice in his most desired Good when he knows it to be obtained Victory over Death is certainly the most desired and the obtained Good of Believers And ordinarily they do know themselves to have obtained it through Christ their Lord. For the Law of Grace through Faith they do understand Their own Acts of Grace by Sense they do perceive And their State of Grace by Reason they do infer And the Spirit which is of God they do receive whereby they know the things which are freely given them of God 1 Cor. 2.12 What our Saviour in his days on Earth said to the Ears of some the Holy Ghost saith now to Believers Hearts Be of good chear your Sins are forgiven Witnessing with their Spirits that they are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 Not only enlightning their Minds to see the Truth of their Graces and thence to conclude themselves in a
to the Vnity and Purity of Faith Speaking of the Differences of Brethren in this City he thus expressed himself I am amaz'd to see good Men thus tear one another in the dark Nor can I understand how they should have Grace in due Exercise who value their particular Designs above the Interest of the Catholick Church and who confine Religion to their own Notions and Models To another complaining of Reproaches from pretended Friends his Answer was To me to be judged of Man and of Man's Judgment is a small thing I bless God I value not my own Name but God's only I do confess when Men wound the Credit of the Gospel through me it is hard then to bear up Nor may it be forgotten what he hath said to his dear and excellent Friend and spiritual Son of this City Dr. D. H. I bless God in fifteen Years time I have not ever given any Man's Credit a Thrust behind his Back But when I had ground to speak well of any Man I did so with Faithfulness and when I wanted a Subject that way I kept Silence O in what Concord might Prelatists and Dissenters walk much more the Dissenters themselves had they more of this Balsamick Spirit What agree in Principles of Faith in all substantial Parts of Worship and assert all of us the same Necessity of Holiness and yet bite and devour one another Blessed Saviour send down thy Spirit to us with the Wisdom that is pure and peaceable But to return Of the Man so pure and peaceable it must be added His TRIUMPHS in the Favour of God were transcendent Triumphs over Law Sin Death Grave and Hell Too few do I discern to aspire to such as he had long attained O how dwelt he on the Mount How oft was he as in the third Heaven What a Jacob what an Israel was holy Fleming Such a Wrestler and Prevailer with God such a Moses to whom God spake as it were Face to Face such a Nazarite with a Soul with a Life and with a Name darkned with no Cloud except but that of his own Humility which doth together darken a Man to himself and beautify him in the Eyes of God and Saints A Man so highly favoured of God and blessed with so much of Heaven upon this Earth is not oft found I suppose in any one Age. There is no end of Instances every Day seeming to have been a holy Sabbath and Communion-day and Day of spiritual Jubilee unto him In his last Sickness he had more than one wondrous Manifestation of God's Love to his Soul and one which he declared he had not Strength enough to have born much longer But now Of his DEATH in the Lord what shall my trembling Heart utter It was but July the 17th that his Sickness seized him and the 25th he who had so much seen the Salvation of God departed in Peace On his first Arrest O Friends said he to such as were about him Sickness and Death are serious things But till the Sparks of his Fever had risen to a Flame he was not aware that that Sickness was to be unto Death for he told a Relation of his that if it should so be it was strange being the Lord did not use to hide from him the things that he did with him and his His heavenly Father knew his thorow Preparedness for Glory and pleased not to give the Premonition which he saw him not to want Sudden Death is sudden Glory to such Saints Yet before his Expiration he was apprehensive of its Approach Calling to him a Friend he asked What Freedom do you find in Prayer for me Seems God to becken to your Petitions or does he bind you up and leave dark Impressions on your Mind This way said he I have often known the Mind of the Lord. His Friend telling him he was under Darkness in the case he said Well I know your Mind Trouble not your self for me I think I may say that I have been long above the Fear of Death His Groans and Struglings argued his Flesh to be under no small Pains But his Answers to enquiring Friends certified that the Irons did not enter his Soul Always he would say I am very Well or I was never Better or I feel no Sickness Thus would he say while he was seen to be very sensible of every thing beside Pain The malignant Distemper wasting his Natural Spirits he could speak but little But what he spake was all of it like himself Having felt himself indisposed for his wonted Meditation and Prayer he thus said to some near him I have not been able in a manner to form one serious Thought since I was sick Or to apply my self unto God as I ought But though I have not been able to apply my self unto God he has applied himself unto me And one of his Manifestations was such as I could have born no more Opening his Eyes after a long Sleep one of his Sons asked him how he did he replied Never better Do you know me said the Son unto which with a sweet Smile he answered Yes yes dear Son I know you This was about two Hours before his Ascension About an Hour after it he cried earnestly Help help for the Lord's Sake And then breathing weaker and weaker he soon gave up his precious Ghost The renewed Eagle took flight to the Mountain of Spices As his Life his Death also speaketh And whosoever hath Ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit speaketh by both of them unto the Churches His Diary the rich Treasure of his Experiences is not at hand And therefore cannot as yet be brought into publick Light But from the few Manuscripts which are here found I shall add some Hints that I judg to be very directive and incentive I mean unto the Faith of Reliance and of Assurance in which he was so eminent Unto the Love of God and Men wherein he was so vigorous Unto Meditation and Prayer and Heavenly Mindedness wherein he was so grand an Exemplar They are indeed but Hints And if any Difference be they are the most ordinary of his Memorials The more sublime and extraordinary ones are kept back of a Suspicion that the Generality of good and honest Readers might be more amused than edified by things so stupendious And so very much out of the common Road of Christian Experience But to proceed Aug. 16 1685. Thus he wrote I found some sweet Access to the Lord in the Morning in the lively Actings of Grace and after I had this Day set down some Remarks of the Day before I had some clear Impress of this Since thou art careful to improve thy Talent of Observation more shall be given and the Oil shall not fail whilst there are Vessels to receive And now O the sweet Evening of this same Day when in the outer-Walk where I had found a sore Damp for some time the Door was as it were cast open with such a clear imparting
of these great Confirmations that I hope with assured Confidence was the Voice of my beloved God and Master yea as indeed it had been with an audible Voice said I will do for thee even exceeding abundantly c. I will surely give thee a Deliverance that shall make thee glad above all thy Sorrows past I do remember thy Prayers and Groans oft in this Walk and though I was only a Witness of them then yet now as I have seen in secret so will I reward thee openly The time is now come and it shall linger no more rejoice and be glad O my Prisoner of Hope for the Time of thy Release is come I remember thy Kindness and know thy Love be still and know that I am God I know thy Distress and that thy Straits now draw near but fear not I will take care of thee and the greater the Extremity be the greater Testimony thou givest to me c. This Thursday Evening the 17th of Aug. when I came in with some Challenges I got first great Access to my dear God in Confession and the sense of his Peace which was so lively and sweet as is unexpressible After I found some sweet renewing of former Confirmations with Power impressed on me thus 1. As your latter Works have exceeded your former so shall your latter Days also 2. As you have not made haste until my time so this is the time I have watched for when you are now so low to make my Power known 3. And do you fear to trust me Are the Consolations of God small or have they ever failed you 4. You know not my Child what I am to do for you and how near it is c. After I went down this last Night what Confirmation had I from God further And now this Morning Aug. 18. I had some lively Exercise of the same nature as before c. And now this Saturday Aug. 19. how clear an Evidence did God himself give me of the Evidence of the Work of Grace in my Soul in some most lively Actings thereof so as to rejoice in him as my alone Portion so as to say He only is my Salvation and my Defence my All in whom I desire to triumph and boast And therewith what a sweet Inbreaking followed from himself when he said thus to my Soul I will deliver you in a Way you know not and when all Means fail then is the Time I chuse I know thou hast none to look to but me It is not yours to see now But blessed are they that believe for there shall be a Performance of things promised Dost thou see the Pledges I have given you and the Conveyance of them with such Sealings and Embracements of my Love Remember the Text that Hope makes not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in thy Heart Thou hast been long trading with the Talent of the Cross for some Fruit unto me But now I will also give thee a Talent of Comfort and put it in trust under thy Hand c. And O how remarkable hath this Evening been and Close of this Week which I may call a most solemn Confirming Week And now in its close had I most near and sweet Access to my dear God in Prayer And I hope I may own these immediate Confirmations from himself As 1. What shall be done to the Man whom the King delighteth to honour to whom my Honour and Service hath been dear 2. Have I said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and can I leave thee now when thou hast most need of me and when all Refuge faileth 3. I know thou art at the hardest Part of that Lesson to believe in Hope against Hope but fear not I am with thee which in an extraordinary Way was then spoken and though thou see not what thy Outgate shall be leave that to me 4. And what a marvellous and sweet Confirmation did the Lord give to his poor Servant as I came down Return unto thy Rest and be still Which did so deeply surprise and astonish as answering so directly to what that Day had been my Exercise what he would do with my Hope which seemed to be against Hope This was the giving me a new Text to answer what I had long been upon c. He spent his Days and Years after this Manner And in order to have the Year rightly carried on it was we find his Custom from the 15th or 16th Year of his Age to his last to set a-part the first Day of every Year in renewing his Covenant with God in a new Self-surrender and Dedication of himself to him or if interrupted the first Day then to take the first convenient Day following We cannot give any Account of the Manner of his doing this for the first Years of his Life but we may guess what they have been by the few Instances following 1691. It is in the Entry of this new Year as I have done now for many Years past most solemnly that I desire to renew again my personal Engaging of my self to the Lord my God and for him and with my whole Heart and Desire to enter my self into his Service and take on his blessed Yoke and humbly to lay claim embrace and take him O Him to be my God alone my All my Light and my Salvation my Shield and exceeding great Reward Whom have I in Heaven but thee O Lord or in the Earth whom do I desire besides thee And now under thy blessed Hand my Soul desires and does here testify my Trusting my self and securing my whole Interest my Credit my Conduct my Comfort my Assistance my Thorow-bearing and my poor Children and to leave my self herein on the gracious Hand of my dearest Lord whilst I am within time As I write this the 2d Day of Jan. 1691. R. Fleming 1692. It is in the Entry and first Day of this new Year that I desire here as formerly to enter in this hidden Record a new Surrender and Offering of my self to my dearest Lord and Master who hath been wonderfully tender and gracious to me and hath brought me by his immediate Conduct through the Days and Years of my Pilgrimage past hath still cared for his poor Thing and given more singular Mercies and Evidences of Respect than to many else and now as still formerly hath taken me through this last Year with singular Evidences of his Presence and Assistance And as I trusted my self to my Lord so hath he graciously answered for which and his special Grace hitherto I desire to insert this Witness of my Soul's blessing the Lord my God And now I do here with my full and joyful Consent testify my giving up my self again to the Lord and to his Work and Service here and where-ever he shall call me with desire to consecrate my old Age to my God and the Guide of my Youth I love my Master and his Service and let my Ears be nailed to the Posts