on to enterpose the Clouds between us and him for we are not able to bear his glorious and majestick presence Ioh 26. 9. He holdeth back the face of his Throne and spreadeth his Cloud upon it What would become of us if he should discover all his Glory this is his condescension to the lower World to appear under a vail and cover his Throne with Clouds But though we do not know his full Majesty yet there is enough discovered both to Faith Reason and Sense that God is great and glorious both in himself and in all his Works Scripture declareth it to Faith and Reason will soon subscribe to so evident a Truth that he that made and sustaineth all things must needs be a great God What other conceptions can we form of him when we look to the Heaven and this Earth which he sustaineth by his great Power and he declareth himself to Sense by his dayly Providence to be a God of great Majesty The proof of it needeth not so much to be spoke to as the improvement of it which we are called upon for every where 1. It is a Mercy that being so great he taketh notice of us Psal. 8. 3 4. When I consider thy Heavens the work of thy Fingers the Moon and Stars which thou hast ordained what is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him When we consider how the Majesty of God shineth forth in the heavenly Bodies and those many glorious Creatures God hath made besides us we may wonder that God should esteem of man and take care of man and be so solicitous about mans welfare who was formed at first out of so vile materials as the dust of the Earth and is still of so very frail infirm and mortal condition and hath carryed himself so unthankfully to God that he should take care of him above his whole Creation Psalm 113. 6 7. The Lord our God dwelleth on high who humbleth himself to behold the things in Heaven and Earth That the great God of such glorious Majesty should take notice of Worms and behold us not only by visiting over-seeing and governing the affairs of this lower World but should condescend to this low estate of ours in taking our flesh whose Excellency and Majesty is so great that he might despise the Angels of whom he hath no need but to stoop so low towards men is matter of wonder praise and adoration 2. We should be humble in our conversing with him considering what he is and we are Iob 42. 5 6. I have heard of thee with the hearing of the ear now mine eye seeth thee therefore I abhor my self in dust and ashes This should keep his children in a holy awe Oh how low should we lye before this great God Gen. 18. 27. Who am I that am but dust and ashes that I should speak unto God 3. That we must not please our selves with the performance of ordinary service to him but we should raise it to an eminent degree of Worship and Adoration Psal. 48. 1. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God and Psalm 145. 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised Alass the best we do is much beneath God what low thoughts had Solomon of his stately Temple 2 Chr. 2. 6. Who is able to build thee an house seeing the Heaven of Heavens is not able to contain him who am I that I should build him an house Thus should we see that our best resolutions and performances come much short of the excellency and greatness of God All formality and lifeless service proceedeth from hence that we have not due and raised thoughts of his Majesty and Being Mal. 1. 14. I am a great King saith the Lord of Hosts The greatness of God calleth for other service then usually we give to him he gets nothing from us that is perfect But surely we should not put him off with our refuse but spend the best of our strength time parts and affections in his service Superficial dealing in it argueth mean thoughts of God it is a lessening of his Majesty 4. We serve a great Master and so may expect great things from him He discovereth himself unto his people according to the greatness and Majesty of his Being Ps. 126. 2 3. The Lord hath done great things for them yea the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Kings or Princes do not give pence or brass Farthings but bestow Gifts becomming their Magnificence The Heathens were forced to acknowledg it and the people of God do willing acknowledg it so Ioel 2. 21. Fear not O Land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things Be the Mercies never so rare the way never so difficult God is able to accomplish them 5. This should banish the fear of man as to any danger can come from them to us or to any attempts against God Matth. 10. 28. Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the Soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and Soul in Hell fire they may threaten great things to us but God threatneth greater See Exod. 18. 11. Now I know that God is greater then all Gods for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly God was above them There is a greater being we have to depend upon 6. Because God is of such Majesty and Greatness we should quarrel at none of his dealings for he is too high to be questioned by the Creature and his Counsels are carryed on in such a way as we cannot judg of them no more then a Worm can judge of the affairs of a man he is great in Counsel and wonderful in working 7. This should keep his children in an holy awe Heb. 12. 28 29. Let us have Grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear for our God is a consuming fire When we come in the Holy Assemblies Gen. 28. 17. How dreadful is this place In our general course we must not slight his frowns nor despise his favours all comes from a great God nor behave our selves irreverently in his presence but still walk as those that have to do with a great and glorious God II. That in this present state we are not able to bear any extraordinary manifestation of his Greatness and Majesty 1. Because of his Glory which would consume and swallow us up This was a Voice from the excellent Glory 2 Pet. 1. 17. Now if this excellent Glory by the Vail of the Firmament were not obscured man were not able to bear it Iob 37. 20. If man speak he shall be swallowed up 1 Tim. 6. 16. He dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see till we are received to Heaven Thus it is his Glory would kill us his Voice confound us There is a mighty disproportion between Mortal
I speak as my subject leadeth me It will put the point generally Satan maketh an advantage of our condition Christ had power to do what was suggested every condition hath its snares a full condition most of all Psal. 69. 22. Let their table be a snare their welfare for a trap He hideth his snares and gins to catch our souls in all the comforts men enjoy they are apt to grow proud to forget God to become mercyless to others who want what they enjoy to live in vain pleasures and to forget Eternity to live in sinful security in the neglect of Christian duties to be enslaved to sensual satisfactions to be flat and cold in Prayer This glut and fulness of worldly comforts is much more dangerous then our hunger Thirdly observe In Tempting Satan pretendeth to help the tempted party to a better condition as here he seemeth careful to have bread provided for Christ at his need yea pretendeth respect to his glory and to have him manifest himself to be the Son of God by such a miracle as he prescribeth This seeming tenderness counselling Christ to support his life and health was the snare layed for him Thus he dealt with our first Parents he seeketh to weaken the reputation of Gods love and kindness to man and to breed in the Womans mind a good opinion of himself That his suggestions might make the greater impression upon her he manageth all his discourse with her that all the advice which he seemeth to give her proceeded of his love and good affection towards her and her husband pretending a more then ordinary desire and care of mans good Gen. 3. 5. as if he could direct him how to become a match for God himself So still he dealeth with us for alas otherwise in vain is the snare layed in the sight of any Bird Prov. 1. 17. He covereth the snare layed for mans destruction with a fair pretence of Love to advance man to a greater happiness and so pretendeth the good of those whom he meaneth wholly to destroy He enticeth the covetous with dishonest gain which at length proveth a real loss The sensual with vain pleasures which at length prove the greatest pain to body and soul The ambitious with honours which really tend to their disgrace Always trust God but disbelieve the Devil who promoteth mans destruction under a pretence of his good and happiness How can Satan and his instruments put us upon any thing that is really good for us Fourthly That Satans first temptations are more plausible he doth not at first dash come with fall down and worship me but only pretendeth a respect to Christs refection and a demonstration of his Sonship Few or none are so desperate at first as to leap into Hell at the first dash therefore the Devil beginneth with the least temptations First men begin with less evils play about the brink of Hell a man at first taketh a likeing to company afterwards he doth a little inlarge himself into some haunts and merry meetings with his companions then entreth into a confederacy in evil till he hath brought utter ruin upon himself and what was honest Friendship at first proveth wicked company and sure destruction at last At first a man playeth for recreation then ventureth a shilling or two afterwards by the witchery of Gaming off goeth all sense of thrift honesty and credit At first a man dispenseth with himself in some duty then his dispensation groweth into a settled toleration and God is cast out of his closet and his Heart groweth dead dry and sapless there is no stop in sin 't is of a multiplying nature and we go on from one degree to another and a little lust sets open the door for a greater as the lesser sticks set the greater on fire Fifthly There is no way to defeat Satans temptations but by a sound belief of Gods all-sufficiency and the nothingness of the Creature 1. A sound belief of and a dependance on Gods all-sufficiency Gen. 17. 1. I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect We need not warp nor run to our shifts he is enough to help to defend or reward us he can help us without means though there be no supply in the view of sense or full heaps in our own keeping God knoweth when we know not 2 Pet. 2. 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of Temptations c. or by contrary means curing the eyes with spittle and clay He can make a little means go far As he blessed the pulse to the captive Children Dan. 1. 15. And made the Widows barrel of Meal and cruise of Oyl to hold out 1 Kings 17. 14. And his filling and feeding five Thousand with a few Barly loaves and a few Fishes Matth. 14. 21. On the other side he can make abundance unprofitable Luke 12. 15. A mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth No means can avail unless God giveth his blessing therefore we should not distrust his Providence nor attempt any thing without Gods warrant lest we offend him and provoke him to withdraw his blessing 2. The Nothingness of the Creature Not by bread alone 'T is nothing by way of comparison with God nothing by way of exclusion of God nothing in opposition to God It should be nothing in our esteem so far as it would be something separate from God or in co-ordination with God Isa. 40. 17. All nations before him are as nothing less than nothing and vanity Iob 6. 21. Now ye are nothing All Friends cannot help our foes cannot hurt us not the greatest of either kind Isa. 34. 12. All her Princes shall be nothing In regard of the effects which the World promise to its deluded lovers all is as nothing not only that it can do nothing to our needy souls to relieve us from the burden of sin nothing towards the quiet and true peace of our wounded Consciences nothing to our acceptance with God nothing for strength against corruptions and temptations nothing at the hour of death but it can do nothing for us during Life nothing to relieve and satisfie us in the World without God Therefore God is still to be owned and trusted SERMON III. MATTH 4. 5 6. Then the Devil taketh him into the Holy City and setteth him on a pinnacle of the Temple And saith unto him if thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written he shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up least at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone IN this second Temptation I shall give you 1. The History of it 2. Observations upon it 1. The History of it There 1. What Satan did 2. What he said 3. The soarness of the temptation 1. What he did Then the devil taketh him up into the Holy City and setteth him on a pinnacle of the Temple There 1. Take notice of
service performed for God Iosiah after he had prepared the Temple fell into that rash attempt against Pharaoh Necho which cost him his Life 2 Chro. 35. 20. After all this when Iosiah had prepared the temple Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates and Iosiah went out against him And Peter after he had made a glorious Confession giveth his Master carnal counsel Mat. 16. 18. Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my church c. and yet Ver. 23. Get thee behind me Satan Many after they have been much lifted up in consolation do readily miscarry first he made a glorious confession a sign of great Faith then carnal wisdom vents its self in some counsel concerning the ease of the flesh Oh what need have we to stand upon our guard till God tread Satan under our feet As one of the Roman Generals whether conquering or conquered semper instaurat pugnam so doth Satan 2. Observe God may give Satan some power over the body of one whom he loveth dearly For Satan is permitted to transport Christs body from the wilderness to the Holy City and to set it on a Pinacle of the Temple As it is very consistent with Gods Love to his People to suffer them to be tempted in their souls by the fiery darts of Satan so he may permit Satan to afflict their bodies either by himself or by Witches who are his Instruments Thus he permitted Satan to afflict Iob chap. 2. 6 7. And the Lord said unto Satan Behold he is in thy hand but save his life So went satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Iob with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown The devil may have a threefold power over the bodies of men 1. By Transportations or carrying them from one place to another which usually is not found but in those that give up themselves to his Diabolical Inchantments Or 2. In Possessions which were frequent and rife in Christs time My daughter is sorely vexed with a devil Mat. 15. 22. Or 3. In Diseases which is more common Thus he afflicted Iobs body with Ulcers and what we read Psal. 41. 8. An evil disease cleaveth fast unto him It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing of Belial as if it a were a pestilential disease from the devil So some understand that Psal. 91. 3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome Pestilence As if those sudden darts of Venom by which we are stricken in the Plague came from Satan Certainly evil Angels may have a great hand in our diseases Psal. 78. 49. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger wrath and indignation and trouble by sending evil angels among them But I press it not much Only 1. A word of Patience that we would submit to God though our trials be never so sharp We must yield to that measure of Humiliation which it shall please God to prescribe If he should give leave to Satan to inflame our blood and trouble the humours of our body we must not repine the Son of God permitted his sacred body to be transported by the devil in the Air. 2. A word of Comfort Whatever power God permitteth Satan to have over our bodies or bodily interests yet it is limited he cannot hurt or molest any further than God pleaseth He had power to set Christ on a Pinacle of the Temple but not to cast him down He had a power to touch Iob's skin but a charge not to endanger his Life Iob 2. 6. Behold he is in thine hand but save his life God sets bounds and limits to the malice of Satan that he is not able to compass all his designs Iob was to be exercised but God would not have him dye in a cloud his life was to be secured till better times 3. A word of Caution Let not the Devil make an advantage of those troubles which he bringeth upon our Bodies or the interests of the bodily Life yet let him not thereby draw you to sin Here the devil may set Christ upon a precipice but he can do him no further hurt he may perswade us to cast down our selves but he cannot cast us down unless we cast down our selves Nemo laeditur nisi a seipso His main spight is at your souls to involve you in sin God may give him and his Instruments a power over your bodily lives but he doth not give him a power over the Graces of the Saints The devil aimeth at the destruction of souls he can let men enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season that he may deprive you of delight in God and celestial pleasures he can be content that you shall have Dignities and Honours if they prove a snare to you If the devil seek to bring you to Poverty Trouble and Nakedness it is to draw you from God He careth not for the Body but as it may be an occasion to ruine the Soul 3. Observe If Satan lead us up it is to throw us down He taketh up Christ to the Pinacle of the Temple and saith unto him Cast thy self down He bringeth up many by little and little to some high place that by their aspiring they may at length break their necks Thus he did Haman and so he doth many others whose climbing maketh way for their greater fall The devil himself was an aspirer and fell from Heaven like Lightning Luk. 10. 18. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven And tho in shew he may seem to befriend many that hearken to his Temptations yet in the end he cryeth down with them down with them even to the ground Gods manner is quite contrary when he meaneth to exalt a man he will first humble him and make him low Matth. 23. 12. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted But the devils way is to lift them up to the Clouds that he may bring them down to the lowest Pit of Destruction Adam in conceit must be like God that indeed he may be like the beasts that perish Psal. 49. 20. Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish 4. Observe If thou be the son of God cast thy self down The temptation is quite contrary to what it was before Then it was to preserve life by unlawful means now to endanger life by the neglect of means lawful there to distrust Gods care of our preservation when he hath set us about any task and work here to presume on his care without warrant The devil tempts us sometimes to pamper the flesh sometimes to neglect it in such a way as is destructive to our service Thus the devil hurrieth us from one extream to another as the possessed man fell oft-times into the fire and oft into the water Matth. 17. 15. Those that are guided by Satan reel from one extremity to another
that God is and that he ought to be worshipped It appeareth by our Saviours reasoning Iohn 4. 24. God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in Truth He giveth directions about the manner of worship but supposeth it that he will be worshipped When God had proclaimed his name and manifested himself to Moses Exod. 34. 8. Moses made hast and bowed himself and worshipped It is the crime charged upon the Gentiles that when they knew God they glorified him not as God Rom. 1. 21. They knew a divine power but did not give him a worship at lest competent to his nature God pleadeth his right Mal. 1. 6. If I be a Father where is mine honour If I be a master where is my fear And God who is the common Parent and absolute Master of all must have both a Worship and Honour in which Reverence and Fear is mixed with Love and Joy So that if God be worship is certainly due to him They that have no worship are as if they had no God The Psalmist proveth Atheism by that Psal. 14. 1. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God and ver 4. They call not upon God The acknowledgement of a King doth imply subjection to his Laws so doth the acknowledgment of his God imply a necessity of worshipping him III. That both Worship and Service is due to God him shalt thou worship and him shalt thou serve The worship of God is both Internal and External The Internal consisteth in that Love and Reverence which we owe to him the External in those offices and duties by which our honour and respect to God is signified and expressed Both are necessary both believing with the heart and confession with the Mouth Rom. 10. 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation The soul and life of our Worship and Godliness lyeth in our Faith Love Reverence and Delight in God above all other things the visible expression of it is in Invocation Thanksgiving Prayers and Sacraments and other Acts of outward Worship Now it is not enough that we own God with the Heart but we must own him with the Body also In the Heart serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Psal. 2. 11. Such as will become the Greatness and Goodness of God with outward and bodily worship you must now own him in all those prescribed duties in which these Affections are acted The spirit must be in it and the body also There are two extreams some confine all their respect to God to bodily worship and external Forms Mat. 16. 8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their hearts are far from me They use the external Rites of worship but their Affections are no way suited to the God whom they Worship It is the Heart must be the principal and chief Agent in the business without which it is but the carcass of a duty without the life and the soul. The other Extream is that we are not called to an external bodily worship under the Gospel why did he then appoint the Ordinances of Preaching Prayer Singing of Psalmes Baptisme and the Lords Supper God that made the whole man body and soul must be worshipped of the whole man Therefore besides the inward Affections there must be external Actions whereby we express our Respect and Reverence to God IV. That both these Religious Worship and Service are due to God alone I prove it by these Arguments 1. Those things which are due to God as God are due to him alone and no Creature without Sacriledge can claim any part and fellowship in that Worship and Adoration neither can it be given to any Creature without Idolatry but now Religious worship and service is due to God as God he is thy Lord and worship thou him Psal. 45. 11. Our worship and service is due to him not onely for his supereminent Excellency but because of our Creation Preservation and Redemption Therefore we must worship and serve him and him onely Isa. 42. 8. I am the Lord that is my name and my glory will I not give to another nor my praise to graven Images God challengeth it as Jehovah the great self-being from whom we have received Life and Breath and all things This Glory God will not suffer to be given to another And therefore the Apostle sheweth the wretched estate of the Galatians Chap. 4. 8. When ye knew not God ye did service to them that by nature are no Gods that is they worshipped for Gods those things which really were no Gods There is no kind of Religious worship or service under any name whatsoever to be given to any Creature but to God only for what is due to the Creator as Creator cannot be given to the Creature 2. The nature of Religious worship is such that it cannot be terminated on any Object but God for it is a profession of our Dependance and Subjection Now whatever invisible Power this worship is tendered unto must be Omniscient Omnipresent Omnipotent Omniscient who knowes the Thoughts Cogitations secret purposes of our heart which God alone doth 1 King 8. 39. Give unto every one according to his ways whose heart thou knowest for thou even thou onely knowest the hearts of all the children of Men. It is Gods Prerogative to know the inward motions and thoughts of the heart whether they be sincere or no in their professions of dependance and subjection So Omnipresent that he may be ready at hand to help us and relieve us Ier. 23. 23 24. Am I a God at hand and not a God afar of can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord do not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord. The Palace of Heaven doth not so confine him and inclose him but that he is present every where by his essential presence and powerful and efficacious Providence Besides Omnipotent Psal. 57. 2. I will cry unto God most high unto God who performeth all things for me Alass what a cold formality were prayer if we should speak to those that know us not and who are not near to help us or have no sufficiency of power to help us Therefore these professions of dependance and subjection must be made to God alone 3. To give Religious Worship to the Creatures it is without command without promise and without Examples and therefore without any Faith in the Worshipper or acceptance of God Where is there any command or direction or approved example of this in Scripture God will accept onely what he commanded and without a promise it will be unprofitable to us and it is a superstitious Innovation of our own to devise any
the Angel of the Lord delivered Peter out of Prison Acts 12. 7. And behold the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the prison and he smote Peter on the side and raised him up saying Arise up quickly and his chains fell off from his hands c. but he doth not give thanks to the Angel but to God ver 11. Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel and hath delivered me c. He directeth it to God not to the creature The Angels do us many favours all the thanks we do them is that we do not offend them by our sins against God other gratitude they expect not 6. Their last office is at Death and Judgment In death to convey our souls to Christ Luk. 16. 22. And it came to pass that the beggar dyed and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom that so we may enjoy our rest in heaven In the last day they will gather the bodies of Christs Redeemed ones from all parts of the World after they have been resolved into dust and mingled with the dust of other men that every Saint may have his own body again wherein he hath obeyed and glorified God Matth. 24. 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other That is from all parts and quarters of the World that their Souls may return to their old beloved habitations and then both in body and in soul they may be for ever with the Lord. USE Now this is a great comfort to the Church and People of God when the Powers and Principalities on earth are employed against them to consider what Powers and Principalities attend upon Christ. We serve such a Master as hath authority over the holy Angels to employ them at his pleasure and in their darkest condition his people feel the benefit of it As the Angel of the Lord appeared to Paul in a dreadful storm Acts 27. 23 24. There stood by me this night the angel of the Lord whose I am and whom I serve saying Fear not Paul c. So to Christ in his Agonies Luk. 22. 43. There appeared an angel to him from heaven strengthning him So against Satan the good Angels are ready to comfort us as the evil Angels are ready to trouble and tempt us Let us then look to God at whose direction they are sent to help and comfort us Doct. V. If God taketh away ordinary helpes from us he can supply us by means Extraordinary As he did Christ's hunger by the Ministry of Angels Therefore till Gods power be wasted there is no room for despair We must not limit the Holy One of Israel to our ways and means as they did Psal. 78. 41. They turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST SERMON I. Matthew 17. 1. And after six dayes Iesus taketh Peter Iames and Iohn his brother and bringeth them into an high mountain apart With Luke 9. 28. It came to pass about an eight dayes after these sayings he took Peter and Iohn and Iames and went up into a mountain to pray I Mean to handle the Transfiguration of Christ which was 1. A solemn Confirmation of his Person and Office 2. A pledge of that glorious estate which is reserved for us in Heaven 1. It was a confirmation of his Person and Office as appeareth Matth. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him So Peter who was one present urgeth it 2 Pet. 3. 16 17 18. We have not followed cunningly devised Fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of His Majesty For he received from God the Father Honour and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from Heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount and Iohn also Iohn 1. 14. We beheld his glory as the glory of the onely begotten of the Father they were Eye and Ear-witnesses and therefore could affirm the certainty of this Doctrine 2. It is a pledge of our glorious estate for Christs Body was adorned with heavenly Glory and he had spoken chap. 16. 27. of his coming in the glory of the Father and now he gives his Disciples a pledge and earnest of it In this Introduction four things are observable 1. The Time after six days 2. The Persons whom he takes with him Peter Iames and Iohn 3. The Place he bringeth them to into an high Mountain apart 4. The Preparative action he went up into a Mountain to pray First The Time The Evangelist Luke saith about an eight dayes Matthew and Mark after six days The Reconciliation is easie Matthew and Mark spake of the space of Time between the day of Prediction and the day of Transfiguration exclusively Luke includeth them both The Jews called that flux of time between one Sabbath and another eight dayes including not onely the intervening week but both the Sabbaths according to their custom Luke speaketh Matthew of the time between Secondly The Persons chosen to attend him in this Action Peter Iames and Iohn 1. Why Three 2. Why Those three 1. Why Three so great an Action as this was needed valuable Testimony for the Law saith in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every thing shall be established Deut. 17. 6. Now Christ would go to the utmost of the Law and would have not two onely but three Witnesses as the Apostle speaks of three Witnesses in Heaven and three on Earth 1 Iohn 5. 7 8. so here are three and three three from Heaven God the Father Moses and Elias and three from Earth Peter Iames and Iohn 2. Why those Three Many give divers reasons Peter had led the way to the rest in that notable confession of Christ Matth. 16. 16. and is conceived to have some primacy for the orderly beginning of Actions in the Colledge of the Apostles Iames was the first Apostle who shed his bloud for Christ Acts 12. 2. and Iohn was the most long lived of them all and so could the longer give testimony of those things which he heard and saw till the Church was well gathered and setled Others give other Reasons but to leave conjectures it is certain that these had many singular favours afforded them above the rest of the twelve as appeareth partly in this that Christ changed their names calling Peter Cephas or a stone and the other two Boanerges sons of Thunder which was a token that Christ loved these more then the rest Yea among these Iohn was his bosome Favorite and therefore called often the Disciple whom Jesus loved Partly because he was in the whole course of his life more intimate with these
Lord face to face and spake with him as a man doth with his Friend and Elias 1 Kings 19. Both had fasted fourty days as Christ also did therefore conveniently were these chosen 3. With respect to our Profit and Instruction Christ would not choose two Angels for this service but two Men. Here the business was not to see glorified Spirits but glorified Bodies therefore the Angels having no Bodies of their own and must appear in assumed Bodies if in any are not fit therefore two Men that had Bodies wherein they might appear But you will say if two men must appear in glorified Bodies why not Enoch rather then Moses who was translated into Heaven and remaineth there with a glorified Body as well as Elias Answ. Enoch had no publick charge Enoch lived before the legal dispensation these both belonged to it and were chief in it of great Authority among the Jews Enoch hath an honourable Testimony in the Word of God but had no publick office and charge in the Church which the other two had and managed with great Fidelity By the appearance of Moses the whole legal Oeconomy is supposed to appear in his Person and by the appearance of Elias the Prophetical Ministry which was a kind of Chancery to the Law is supposed to appear also Both do as it were deliver over to Christ their whole dispensation and lay it down at his feet as the Magistrates that are to go out of office solemnly resign the ensigns of their Authority to him that succeedeth and also they come both to reverence the majesty of their supream Lord. In short it is for our comfort that one that died and one alive in glory should come to shew that Christ is Lord of quick and dead Rom. 14. 9. Moses was dead Elias translated these two come the one to give a pledge of the glory of the World to come the other of the Resurrection of the dead which is the way and introduction to it and both these persons come to attend and adore our Saviour and do homage to him Secondly They appeared in glory that is in a corporeal shape shining with brightness glory as Christs body did bating only for the degree proportion that ther might be a difference between the Lord and his Servants Now whether they appeared in Bodies formed and assumed for the present purpose and to be laid down again as we do our Garments or in their own proper Bodies is often disputed by Interpreters upon this occasion That they appeared in bodies is certain for bodily acts and properties are ascribed to them as their talking with Christ their being seen by the Apostles for a spirit cannot be seen If in bodies why not their own It is as easie to the Lord to cause them to appear in their own bodies as in a body assumed for this special purpose and service and they were known by the Disciples to be Moses and Elias not by the external Lineaments for they never saw them in person before but either were made known to them by some internal Revelation or by Christs words or by some words of Moses and Elias themselves but which way soever they knew them certain it is they knew them and took them to be Moses and Elias therefore Moses and Elias they were both as to Soul and Body The Apostles that were admitted to this Transfiguration were not to be deceived by a false appearance for they were admitted to be confirmed in the Truth of Christs Person and Office that by what they saw they might confirm others How would it weaken the Testimony if what they saw appearing before them in glory were not the bodies of Moses and Elias but only other bodies assumed Concerning Elias the matter is without difficulty for since he saw not death but was translated both body and soul into Heaven why should he lay down his own body and take another to come and serve Christ upon this occasion cause sufficient there was why he should come from the blessedness of Heaven to Mount Tabor no cause why he should lay aside his own proper body It is no loss nor trouble but advantage to blessed and heavenly Creatures to be serviceable to their Redeemers Glory though it be to come out of the other into this World But concerning Moses the matter is more doubtful we read that he died in Mount Nebo and his body was buried by God in the Plains of Moab so that his Grave was known to no man unto this day Deut. 34. 5 6. Some think it was preserved from putrefaction by the extraordinary power of God that he might resume it at this time The Jews say that God sucked out Moses soul from his body with a kiss and afterwards restored it again and so he liveth in immortality but he that looketh for Divinity among the Jewish Rabbins will much sooner find a ridiculous Fable then any sound Doctrine suffice it to us that he was really dead and buryed and his body mouldred into dust as our bodies are and now on this special occasion raised out of the dust but after this whether it were laid down in dust again or carryed into Heaven it is not for us to determine it may be either according to the Analogy of the Christian Faith if his body returned to corruption again surely it is a great honour that it was raised up for this special use I say it was a great joy to these Prophets to see all their predictions fulfilled in Christ. If we say it entered into Glory what inconvenience was there If God would indulge him this peculiar Prerogative to be raised from the dead and enjoy blessedness both in soul and body before the last day He granted it to Enoch and Elias and those who came out of their Graves after Christs death Matth. 27. 53. the great Harvest is at the last day but some first-fruits before Secondly Their Conference with our Saviour they talked with him saith Matthew they spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Ierusalem saith Luke they talked with Christ not with the Apostles here is an Apparition to them but no parley and intercourse between them and the glorified Saints The Saints that are glorified are out of the sphere of commerce of the living nay it is a question whether they heard at all what was said to Christ but of that in the next verse Here observe three things 1. What they spake of Christs death 2. The notion by which his death is set forth it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. The necessity of undergoing it in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he should accomplish at Jerusalem 1. What they spake of none could divine unless it had been told us and the Evangelist Luke telleth us that it was of his death This Argument was chosen 1. Because it was at hand the next solemn Mediatory Action after this was his Death and Bloody sufferings after he was Transfigured in
the Mount he went down to suffer at Ierusalem 2. This was an offence to the Apostles that their Master should dye Matth. 16. 22 23. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee 3. This was the Jews stumbling block 1 Cor. 1. 23. We Preach Christ Crucified to the Iews a stumbling block 4. This was prefigured in the Rites of the Law foretold in the Writings of the Prophets In the figures of the Law it was represented Heb. 9. 22. and almost all things are by the Law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no Remission especially the Apostle urgeth the entring of the High Priest with Blood to the Mercy-seat verse 23 24. All the legal Sacrifices were slain their blood brought before the Lord. So the predictions of the Prophets Isa. 53. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make thy soul an offering for sin c. And Dan. 9. 26. The Messias shall be cut off but not for himself In short that Christ should dye for the sins of the World was the great thing represented in the Law and Prophets Rabbi Simeon and Rabbi Hadersim out of Daniel that after Messias had Preached half seven years he shall be slain 5. It was necessary that by death he should come to his Glory of which now some glympse and foretast was given to him Luke 24. 46. Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day that is with respect to the predictions verse 44. All those things which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Book of Psalms concerning me may be fulfilled and again Luke 24. 21 26. Oh fools and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into his Glory 6. The Redemption of the Church by Christ is the talk and discourse we shall have in Heaven the Angels and Glorified Spirits are blessing and praising him for this Rev. 5. 9. Thou art worthy for thou wert slain and hast Redeemed us to God by thy Blood The Angels verse 12. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and streneth and glory and honour and blessing The Redeemed Church and glorified Saints and Angels have all one song and one praise the honour of the Lamb that was slain 7. It is an instructive pattern to us that Christ in the midst of his Transfiguration and the Glory which was then put upon him forgat not his Death In the greatest advancements we should think of our desolution if Christ in all his Glory discoursed of his death surely it more becommeth us as necessary for us to prevent the surfeit of Worldly pleasures we should think of the change that is comming For surely every man at his best estate is vanity Psalm 39. 5. In some places they were wont to present a deaths head at their solemn Feasts merry dayes will not alwayes last death will soon put an end to the vain pleasures we enjoy here and the most shining glory will be burnt out to a snuff 2. The notion by which his Death is expressed his decease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the going out of this Life into another which is to be noted 1. In respect unto Christ his death was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he went out of this mortal Life into Glory and so it implyeth both his suffering Death and also his Resurrection Act. 2. 24. God hath raised him up having loosed the pains of Death because it was impossible he should be holden of it The Grave was like a Woman ready to be delivered it suffered Throws till this blessed burden was egested 2. With respect to us Peter calls his death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 1. 15. I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease the death of the Godly is a going out but from sin and sorrow to glory and immortality as Israels going out of Egypt whence the second Book of Moses is called Exodus was no destruction and cessation of their being but a going out of the House of Bondage into Liberty Paul saith I desire to be dissolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 1. 23. a setting sail for the other World In Scripture language the body is the House the soul is the Inhabitant 2 Cor. 5. 1. We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were disslolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens The soul dwelleth in the body as a Man in a House and death is but a departure out of one House into another not an extinction but a going from House to House 3. The necessity of undergoing it in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this word accomplish noteth three things 1. His Mediatorial duty with a respect to Gods Ordination and Decree declared in the Prophesies of the old Testament which when they are fulfilled are said to be accomplished Whatsoever Christ did in the work of Redemption was with respect to Gods Will and Eternal Decree Acts 4. 28. To do whatsoever thy hand and counsel determined before to be done Now this was the more binding being it was a declared counsel in the Prophesies and Figures of the Old Testament therefore Christ cryed out at his death Iohn 19. 30. It is finished or accomplished Meaning principally that the Prophesies and Figures and Types which prefigured his death were all now accomplished 2. His voluntary submission which he should accomplish noteth his Active and voluntary concurrence it is an active word not passive not to be fulfilled upon him but by him for though his death in regard of his Enemies was violent and enforced yet he voluntarily underwent it for our sakes no man could have taken his Life from him unless he had laid it down Iohn 10. 18. it was not forced upon him but he yielded to it by a voluntary dispensation as to men it was an act of violence but as to his Father it was an act of obedience as to us an act of Love on Christs part his Enemies could not have touched him against his Will as indeed they cannot also one hair of our heads but as God permitteth 3. That it was the eminent Act of his Humiliation for this cause he assumed humane Nature his Humiliation begun at his Birth continued in his Life and was accomplished in dying all was nothing without this for less could not serve the turn then the death of the Son of God then all sufferings were undergone which were necessary to take away sin therefore there is a consummation or perfection attributed to the death of Christ Heb. 10. 14. By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified there is done enough to expiate sin
keep up the Honour of his Justice and the Authority of his Law for sin is not a wrong done to a private party offended but a disobedience to Authority and disturbeth the order of Government 2. To declare his Holiness that he is a Pure and Holy God hating sin This was demonstrated in the Sufferings of Christ and the dear rate at which it was expiated for if this was done in the green Tree what shall be done in the dry USES 1 Oh then be affected with this great Mistery the death which the Son of God accomplished at Ierusalem look upon it under a double Notion with respect to his Fathers Command it was an Act of Obedience carried on with such Humility Patience Self-denial Resignation of himself to God Charity Pity as the like cannot be done by Man or Angel Rom. 5. 19. by the obedience of one many were made Righteous Phil. 2. 7. He humbled himself and became obedient to the death even the death of the Cross this commendeth Obedience to us it was an Act of Love Gal. 2. 20. Who loved me and gave himself for me Rev. 1. 5. To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood He thought no price too dear for our Salvation let us love him again who loved us first 1 Ioh. 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us And be contented to suffer with him and for him that we may enter into his Glory Rom. 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together if he call us thereunto 2. Feel the Vertue of it in Heart and Conscience In Heart by our dying to sin then we are planted into the likeness of his death Rom. 6. 5. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof Gal. 5. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness Then Glory in it Gal. 6. 14. God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Iesus Christ by whom the world is crucified to me and I unto the world In Conscience 1 Ioh. 5. 10 He that believeth in the son of God hath the witness in himself c. Heb. 12. 24. And to Iesus the Mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel doth it appease our guilty fears and purge our Consciences from the stain and guilt of sin III. The State of Future Glory and Felicity 1. The dead in the Lord are not perished but live for ever with God in Heaven for here they appear long after their departure hence Luk. 20. 38. He is not the God of the dead but of the living for all live unto him They all live to God though they are gone out of the sphere of our commerce they have another Life with God Now fix this in your hearts for many carry it so as if there were no Immortality or Life to come we do not vanish into the Air when we die Moses is somewhere and Elias somewhere in the Hand of God and can appear when God will have them 2. The Saints appeared in a true and in their own Bodies to establish the Faith of the Resurrection their bodies were reserved for this use one of them was already in Glory in soul and body the other now raised out of the dust after many years Burial and why cannot God gather up our dust again and enliven it that we may accompany Christ at his coming 3. This Instance sheweth also the Degrees of Glory All the Saints have their Portion in Bliss but not a just equality Moses and Elias appeared in Glory not Enoch nor were any of the rest admitted to this solemnity Here were three choice disciples when the rest stood at a remote distance so two glorified Saints but the rest not admitted to this Honour but stood waiting for his glorious Ascension There is difference on Earth in the Worldly State some have greater Riches Honours and Dignity than others difference in the Church both in Gifts and Graces yea a difference in Hell some have a hotter others a cooler punishment so in Heaven according to eminency in Holiness and Faithfulness with God otherwise there would not be a suitableness in Gods dispensations 4. The perfect subjection of the glorified spirits to the will of God either to remain in the Vision of God or to be imployed in the service of their Redeemer we should think that a self-denial which they count an Happiness to come from Heaven to Mount Tabor they take up or lay down a body as God pleaseth Heaven is a state not onely of perfect Happiness but of exact conformity to God 5. We shall have the Company of the Blessed Saints in Heaven The disciples here did not onely enjoy the company and sight of Christ but the company and sight of Moses and Elias being glorified Saints so in the Heavenly Life Mat. 8. 11. It is made a part of our blessedness in the Kingdome of God to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob And Heb. 12. 23. Ye are come to the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect Here we are ioyned to them by Faith and Hope there by sight and Fellowship The company of wicked Men is now grievous and tedious to us Ezek. 2. 6. but we shall have better company hereafter here we often part with our choicest Friends and Acquaintance but there we shall meet and never part more It is not to be imagined but that we shall have the comfort of our glorified Fellow-creatures The Body hath its Objects and Felicity fit for a Body 6. The Saints shall know one another as the disciples knew Moses and Elias though not by Countenance having never seen them before but by Revelation Christ told them who they were and we who have known before our old Acquaintance shall know them again Memory is not abolished but perfected we shall make one body one society now we shall not converse as strangers Abraham knew Lazarus Luk. 16. 25. Ministers 1 Thes. 2. 19. What is our hope or joy or crown of Rejoycing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Iesus Christ at his coming Christs Argument Luk. 16. 9. Make to your selves friends of the mamon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Angels know not onely themselves but all the Elect now how else do they Minister about them they know the least believer Math. 18. 10. Take heed that ye offend not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven And they are at length to gather them from the four Winds Matth. 13. 41. The son of
censure of the Holy Ghost Luke saith not knowing what he said In Mark chap. 9. 6. He wist not what to say for they were sore afraid They were words of a man in a Rapture or surprized with great astonishment There were two affections dazled with the Majesty of this Glory and transported with joy there was also a great fright usually 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such things as bring a hurt occasion fear and also things of excellent Glory such as surpass our present meanness as here the change of Christs Person and the glorious Appearance of the great Prophets so long since separated from the commerce of mankind Observe before we proceed the inconvenience of great and excessive Passions they make us speak we know not what Peter is an instance in Scripture let us keep to him you see him surprized with a great passion of fear when at Christs command a great draught of Fish came to hand in an unlikely time Luke 5. 8 9. Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord. For he was astonished and all that were with him at the draught of Fishes that they had taken you find him at other times transported with a passion of excessive Reverence or Humility Iohn 13. 8. Lord thou shalt never wash my feet With a passion of Love or Pity to his Master Lord let it be far from thee this shall not be unto thee when his Master had foretold his death Mark 16. 22. in case of contempt of Christ here with a passion of joy or ravishment or transport of soul Lord it is good for us to be here Now all these passions were religiously exercised but it is dangerous when Religion which should bridle and govern our passions is made the matter and fuel of them Passionate joy or passionate fear passionate reverence or passionate zeal and anger may easily transport us to some uncomely action or motion for though in all these there was Religion at top yet sin at the bottom and therefore you see how much it concerneth us to moderate and reduce our selves to a due temper for passion causeth us to do things without and against reason yea to speak and do we know not what and when Religious matters over heat our affections we may erre exceedingly Now having opened this part of the History let us observe something that conduceth to our practical instruction I. Doctrine That the state and condition of the glorified Saints is a most delightful state and condition For when Peter had but a glimpse of it in the transfiguration of Christ it seemed so ravishing and transporting that here would he abide and stay by it so was he affected with joy in the company and presence of Christ and Moses and Elias appearing with him that all his natural comforts and relations were forgotten This would compensate all if once we be gotten into this blessed estate we shall never desire to come out of it and part with it this which the Disciples had was but a little glimpse and tast of the Life to come this must needs be so it is called joy Mat. 25. 21. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord and fulness of joy Psal. 16. 11. In thy presence there is fulness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore no better estate can be expected The Soul is at rest as having obtained its end And it is also proved by the priviledges and benefits the Saints shall enjoy in the world to come 1. A Freedom from all Evil which here are matter of Grief to us And 2. The Fruition of all Good which may any way bring Ioy and Delight and Contentment 1. There is a Freedom from all Evil. There is a twofold evil either of Sin or Punishment In Heaven there is neither Sin nor Misery 1. To begin with sin that is the worst evil because it maketh us hateful to God and grieveth the Saints most Rom. 7. 24. Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death If any man had cause to complain of Afflictions Paul much more being often imprisoned whipped stoned but his lusts troubled him more then scourges and his captivity to the Law of sin more then Prisons Gods children are most weary of the World because they are sinning here whilst others are glorifying of God and enjoying God and the company of his blessed Ones Now in Heaven there is no sin Eph. 5. 27. there is neither spot nor blemish nor wrinkle on the face of the glorified Saints their faces were once as black as yours But now they are washed in the Lambs blood and fully cleansed now with much ado we mortifie sin but then it is nullified but if we subdue the power of sin we do not get rid of the being of it but then we are rid of all at once of all sin and temptation to sin There was a Serpent a tempter in Paradise but there is none in Heaven the devil is shut out and the old man is left in the Grave never to rise more 2. There is not the least evil of Affliction Rev. 21. 4. All tears shall be wiped away from their eyes whatsoever is painful and burdensome to nature is a fruit of sin a brand and mark of our Rebellion against God Therefore when sin is done away Affliction which is the fruit of it is done away also In Hell there is Evil and onely Evil in Heaven Happiness and onely Happiness here our wounds are healed but the scars remain something to put us in mind that we have sin yet dwelling in us but there all the effects of it cease there is neither death nor sorrow nor crying nor any more pain 2. They shall enjoy all Good things which shall bring Joy and Comfort to them in blessedness there is a confluence of all Good our joyes are full and eternal 1. There is the immediate sight and presence of God and Jesus Christ who shall be all in all to them 1 Cor. 13. 12. Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part then shall I know as also I am known And John 17. 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the World We are brought into the presence of him who is blessedness it self 2. The society of all the blessed Angels and Saints glorified Mat. 8. 11. Many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven 3. The perfection of all Heavenly gifts both in soul and body 1. In Soul that is the Heaven of Heaven 1 Iohn 3. 2. Now are we the sons of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be but this we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him
as he is Psalm 17. 15. When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy Image and likeness by knowing we come to Love and by loving God we know him there is Vision Assimilation Satisfaction the object is efficacious the intimation vigorous and clear the subject prepared for the impression 2. In Body Phil. 3. 21. Who shall change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body the body shall be endued with all glorious qualities as brightness strength agility it is a body wholly impassible and incorruptible fit for the operations of a glorified soul and with it shall for ever remain a glorious Temple of the Holy Ghost therefore it is good to be here USES 1. Let this draw forth our Love to such a blessed estate which is so full of delight and contentment and wean us from these things which are most pleasing in the World 1. The best estate in the World is but vanity altogether vanity Psalm 39. 5. mingled with some grievances Wealth hath its incident cares and Honour its tortures and all pleasures here are but bitter sweets there is a Worm that feedeth on our gourd and will in time wither it At last death commeth and then the lust of the World is gone 1 Iohn 2. 17. The World passeth away and the lust thereof The Godly themselves have but a mixed estate because of remaining infirmities they live here in a Vale of tears and snares and sin doth not gasp its last till death removeth us from this sinful flesh and puts us into the sight of God himself Wherefore the Saints are groaning and longing for the parting day when putting off the flesh we shall put off sin and come and dwell with God for ever 2. None are translated unto Heaven but such whose hearts are there first 2 Cor. 5. 2. In this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven Phil. 1. 23. I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Rom. 8. 23. We that have the first Fruits of the spirit groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption the Redemption of our bodies A Christian waiteth and longeth for a purer state of bliss and immortality the first Fruits shew what the Harvest will be and a tast what the Feast will prove though they are thankful for this refreshing by the way yet they are longing to be at home cannot be contented without it 3. The excellency of this estate requireth it if it be not worth your desires and best Affections it is little worth Christ procured it for us by a life of Labours and Sorrows and the pangs of a bitter cursed death and when all this is done shall not we desire it and look after it that is foul ingratitude Oh then let your Hearts be upon it desire must go before delight 2. To move us to labour for it and seek it in the first place and to get it assured that we have a part in this blessed and joyful condition Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof Luke 13. 24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate So 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure What profit is it to know that there is such a blessed and joyful estate if we have no interest in it Heaven is worth our pains and will bear all the cost we can lay out upon it so the children of God thought Acts 26. 7. Unto which promise our twelve Tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come if we do not desire it we do not believe it if we do not labour for it we do not desire it 3. Let us comfort our selves with the hopes of this blessed and joyful condition 1. Against all the miseries and afflictions of this present Life these are necessary we would sleep too quietly in the World if we did not sometimes meet with thorns in our beds we should be so pleased with our entertainment in the way as we should forget home but God awakeneth us out of our drowsie fits by sharp afflictions as if he said arise depart hence this is not your rest Micah 2. 10. while we wallow in sensual comforts our hearts say it is good being here 2. When there is a joyful and blessed condition beyond them it is some comfort in this shipwrack of mans felicity that we can see banks and shoars a landing place where we may be safe and enjoy our repose To you that are troubled rest with us when the Lord Iesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels 2 Thess. 1. 7. Here our days are sorrow and our travail grief but there is our repose 3. That our joy and contentment is so infinitely above our sorrow and trouble 2 Cor. 4. 7. so that in all the troubles and sorrows of this Life we may look beyond them and through them to the joy and comfort of the Life to come This joy is set before us in the promises of the Gospel Heb. 12. 2. Christ for the joy that was set before him endured the cross c. and Heb. 6. 18. Who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us we see it by Faith though not by sense II. Doctrine That one of the diseases of mankind is that we catch at felicity without considering the way that leadeth to it Peter seeing and apprehending this estate to be an estate of Happiness and Glory doth not consider what he must first do and first suffer before he could come to converse with Christ and the glorified Saints Our Saviour had lately told him that he must deny himself and take up his Cross and follow him but Peter overlooketh all this and saith it is good to be here he would be glorified before he was abased and had suffered all the afflictions foretold and would have his wages before he had done his work Every one would enjoy Christs Glory and Happiness but we do not like his yoke are loath to submit to his Cross. If we would enjoy happiness with Christ and the glorified Saints we must be humbled with them and suffer with them first But we would triumph before we had fought any battle and receive the Crown before we have run our Race and reap in joy before we have sowed in tears or performed that necessary work that God requires at our hands Now the Reasons of it are these 1. Because by nature we love our own ease and contentment Gen. 49. 15. He saw that rest vvas good We are loath to undergo the Cross and desirous to enjoy Happiness and Glory before and without Afflictions but this is an untimely and preposterous desire proceeding from self-love God hath appointed another order that the Cross should go before the Crown Rom. 8. 17. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together 2. From the Libertinism and yokelessness of our natures and
sense and the conceits of the sufferer When we are but newly under the affliction we feel the smart but do not presently find the benefit but within a while especially in the review it is good for me It is matter of Faith under the Affliction it is matter of Sense afterwards Gods Physick must have time to work That which is not good may be good though it be not good in its Nature it may be good in its Use and though for the present we see it not we shall see it Therefore good is not to be determined by Feeling but by Faith The Rod is a sore thing for the present but the bitter Root will yield sweet Fruit. If we come to a Person under the Cross and ask him What is it good to feel the lashes of Gods correcting hand to be kept poor sickly exercised with losses and reproaches to part with Friends and Relations to lose a beloved Child he would be apt to Answer No. But this poor Creature after he hath been exercised and mortified and gotten some renewed Evidences of Gods Favour ask him then Is it good to be afflicted Oh yes I had been Vain Neglectful of God wanted such an Experience of the Lords Grace Faith should determine the case when we feel it not Well then Let us learn to distinguish between what is really best for us and what we judge to be best Other Diet is more wholesome for our Souls than that which our sickly Appetite craveth It is best many times when we are weakest worst when strongest all things are good as they help on a blessed Eternity so sharp afflictions are good That part of the World that is governed by sense will never yield to this You cannot convince a Covetous Man that the loss of an Estate is good or a worldly rich man that Poverty is good or an Ambitious man that it is good to be despised and contemned or a sensual Voluptuous Man that it is good to be in Pains that the Body be afflicted for the good of the Soul they will never believe you But those that measure all things by Eternity they know that Poverty makes way for the true Riches and Ignominy for the true Glory Want for fulness of Pleasures and Misery mortifies Sin SERMON V. MATTH 17. 5. While he yet spake behold a bright Cloud overshadowed him and behold a voice out of the Cloud which said This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him IN this branch of the story two things are remarkable and there is a Behold prefixed before either of them to excite our Attention First they see a bright Cloud and then they hear a voice out of the Cloud First Of the Cloud and while he yet spake behold a bright cloud overshadowed them it was not a dark cloud as upon Mount Sinai when God gave the Law but a bright one yet not so bright and lightsome but that it was mixt with some obscurity It was no natural and ordinary cloud such as are commonly engendred in the air above us but extraordinary and supernatural created by God for this occasion The use of it was double 1. To convey Moses and Elias out of their sight when this conference was ended therefore some expound that which is said Luke 9. 34. They feared as they entred into the Cloud after this manner the Disciples feared when they saw Moses and Elias entring into the Cloud that is involved and covered in it It is said of Jesus Christ himself when he ascended into Heaven Acts 1. 9. A cloud received him out of their sight 2. To be a token of the extraordinary presence of God whose voice immediately came out of the cloud as also to vail the glory thereof which was best done by a Cloud a thing of a middle nature between terrestrial and Celestial bodies When Solomon builded the Temple the Lord shewed his special presence thereby filling the House with a Cloud 1 Kings 8. 10. This way of Apparition God useth to moderate the splendor of his excellent Glory We are not able to behold God as he is and must not pry into his Glory there is a Cloud and vail upon it Secondly They heard a Voice and behold a voice out of the Cloud which said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him 1. Observe That there was a voice distinctly and audibly heard Though God did sensibly now manifest his presence in the Mount with Christ and did audibly speak to them yet he did not appear in any distinct form and shape either of man or any other living Creature but all was done by a voice out of the cloud so Deut. 4. 12. Ye heard the voice of the words but saw no similitude and verse 15. take good heed to your selves for ye saw no similitude in the day that the Lord spake to you in Horeb least ye corrupt your selves and make to you any graven Image The similitude of any figure c. The voice of God may with less danger come to us then any sight or representation of him 2. The matter or what this voice said This is my beloved Son hear ye him By this voice there is 1. A Testimony given to Christ. 2. A command to hear him Or 1. The dignity of Christ he is the beloved Son of God in whom he is well pleased 2. A suitable respect bespoken for him The words are few but yet contain the sum of the whole Gospel and they are spoken not by a Man nor by an Angel but by the Lord himself and therefore they should be entertained with the more reverence The Apostle Peter who was one of the parties present could never forget this Testimony of the Father concerning his Son Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1. 17. He received from the Father Honour and Glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent Glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and besides what Christ speaketh of another voice from Heaven is true of this Iohn 12. 30. This voice came not because of me but for your sakes not so much to encourage him in his suffering as to our edification and instruction All the testimonies given unto Christ from Heaven tended to point him out to sinners as the true Messiah approved and accepted of God therefore these words should ever be in our minds especially when we draw nigh to God in solemn duties I shall begin with the Dignity Honour and Glory of Christ solemnly declared from Heaven there are three things in it 1. The Relation between him and the Father He is a Son 2. The dearness of that Relation His beloved Son 3. The complacential satisfaction which he taketh in him and the price of our Redemption paid by him in whom I am well pleased Doctrine That it is the main and principal point of the Gospel and of great necessity to be known and believed to Salvation that Iesus
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past 2. No farther price for what they need 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot and blemish The repentance of a sinner is pleasing to him there is Joy in Heaven Luke 15. 7. Ioy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that is converted A Feast was made at the return of the Prodigal As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner Our Conversion is more pleasing to God than our Destruction 3. He is pleased with the Execution and Management of it by Christ he carried himself in the office of the Mediator according to what was injoyned him Ioh. 8. 29. I do alwayes the things that please him Ioh. 5. 30. I can of my self do nothing as I hear I judge and my Iudgment is just because I seek not my will but the will of the father which sent me And did finish all that was necessary for the Redemption of the Elect before he died Ioh. 19. 30. When Iesus had received the vinegar he said It is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost Evidences of this are his Resurrection from the dead Act. 5. 30 31. The God of our fathers raised up Iesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins Heb. 13. 20. The God of peace brought again the Lord Iesus from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant As pacified in Christ received into glory 1 Tim. 3. 16. Certainly God is well pleased since he hath given not onely a Discharge but a Reward The gift of the Spirit for renewing the heart of man which is the great pledge of Gods being satisfied Ioh. 7. 39. This he spake of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Iesus was not yet glorified a sure evidence that our ransom is paid Acts 5. 32. And we are his witnesses of these things and so is the holy Ghost which he hath given to them that obey him A Sacrifice of infinite value and esteem 2. That he is well-pleased with us who have an Interest in him In our natural Estate we are all displeasing unto God whatever we are in the purpose of his decree we must look upon our selves as we are in the Sentence of his Law so children of wrath Eph. 2. 3. Enemies by our minds in evil works Col. 1. 21. Estranged from the womb Psal. 58. 3. so that all of us were cut off from the Favour of God obnoxious to his wrath this is our miserable Condition by Nature that we were no way pleasing to him for without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. A sinner as a sinner can do nothing acceptable indeed God having found a Ransom is placabilis but not placatus not actually reconciled to us till we are in Christ and he is placandus antequam placendus to be appeased before he can be pleased he is not actually reconciled till we are in Christ. 2. Awakened sinners are not easily satisfied so as to look upon themselves as pleasing unto God for the Conscience of Sin is not easily laid aside nor is the stain soon got out And though the grant be passed in Heaven yet we have not the sense of it in our own hearts for it is the Blood of Christ can onely do it Heb. 9. 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God The Carnal offer thousands of Rams and Rivers of Oyl and the fruit of the body for the sin of their soul Mic. 6. 6 7. They would give any thing for a sufficient sin-offering yea the renewed and pardoned have not so firm a peace as to be able always to look upon themselves in a state of well-pleasing therefore often beg that God would dissipate the Cloudes and cause the Light of his Countenance to break forth upon them Psal. 80. 19. Turn us Oh Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved So that when there is a grant of Pardon and Peace and Access to God we have not alwayes the sense 3. Yet the Ground is laid assoon as we have an Interest in Christ God is well pleased with us if you consent to his Mediation and take him in his three Offices as a Prophet Priest and King As a Prophet hear him the business is put out of all Question that God will love you because he loved Christ. When you depend on him as a Priest you have Reconciliation and Access to God Rom. 5. 1 2. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand When you subject your selves to him as a King Col. 1. 13. He hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son Christ is dear to God and to him all the Subjects of his Kingdom are dear also So that if you will be more explicite in your Duty you may be more explicite in your Comforts if you will receive his Doctrine so as it may have Authority over your Hearts if in the Anguish of your Souls you will depend on the Merit of his Sacrifice and give up your selves to live in a constant Obedience to his Laws You will find him to be a dear Son indeed one very acceptable with God for you also will be accepted with him for his sake II. Concerning the weight and importance of this Truth 1. It is propounded as the Foundation upon which God will build his Church Mat. 16. 16 17 18. And Simon Peter answered and said thou art Christ the Son of the living God And Iesus answered and said unto him Blessed art thou Simon Barjona for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my father which is in heaven And I say unto thee That thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it 2. It is the question put to those that would enter upon Christianity Acts 8. 37. If thou believest with all thy heart thou maist and he answered and said I believe that Iesus is the son of God When they were serious in the Profession that was enough 1 Ioh. 5. 1. Whosoever believeth that Iesus is the Christ is born of God 3. This engaged the hearts of the Disciples to tarry with him when others murmured at his Doctrine He that cleaveth to this Profession carrieth himself accordingly whatever Temptations he hath to the contrary we believe and are sure that thou art