Twenty-Five Lectures Upon the Lords Last Sermon and Conference, Lecture 22
THE XXII. LECTVRE, OF CHRISTES PRAYER BEFORE HIS PASSION.
IOHN, CHAP. xvii. VERS. 12.13.14.15.
12 While J was with them in the worlde, I kept them in my Name: thoſe that thou giueſt mee, hauehave I kept, and none of them is loſt, but the childe of perdition, that the Scripture might bee fulfilled.
13 And nowe come J to thee, and theſe thinges ſpeake I in the worlde, that they might hauehave my joye fulfilled in themſelues.
14 I hauehave giuen them thy worde, and the worlde hath hated them, becauſe they are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou ſhouldeſt take them out of the worlde, but that thou keepe them from euill.
IN the ſecond part of this Prayer (Welbeloued in the Lord Ieſus) the Lord being to depart out of this life, and to riſe againe, and to aſcend vp to the Heauens, he recommendeth his Diſciples, whome he was to leaue behinde him, to the keeping and preſeruation of the Father. To this purpoſe hee hath ſundry arguments and reaſons: Firſt, ſayeth he, I hauehave manifested thy Name to them, therefore, Father, keepe them. Then, Thou hast choſen them out of the worlde from all eternitie, therefore, Father, keepe them. Then, They were thine, therefore, Father, keepe thine owne. And againe, Thou haſt giuen them to mee, therefore keepe them. And againe, They hauehave kept thy worde, and belieued in mee, that thou haſt ſent mee, therefore keepe them. And againe, I am glorified in them, therefore keepe them. And laſt of all, I am to leaue them behinde mee in the worlde, therefore keepe them. Theſe arguments and reaſons wee hauehave heard. Nowe hee goeth forwarde, and addeth to the eight reaſon, beginning at the Text which wee hauehave read. The eight reaſon is from his owne keeping of his Diſciples, while hee abode with them in the world: While J was with them in the worlde, I kept them in thy Name, and ſaued them: And thoſe whome thou gauest to mee, I hauehave kept; ſo that there is not one of them loſt, ſaue one, the ſonne of perdition: meaning Iudas, that the Scripture might mee fulfilled: euen that Scripture, which fore-tolde of his deſtruction: therefore I kept them ſo long as I was with them: Now, Father, I recommende them vntounto thee, and I put them into thine hand.
Yet the words would bee better weighed: This keeping of his Diſciples he amplifieth by ſundry circumſtances: The firſt circumſtance, is, A carefulneſſe, diligence, and earneſtneſſe in keeping them. This carefulneſſe appeareth in doubling of the words: hee is not content to ſay once, J hauehave kept them: but he ſayth it ouer again. The Sonne of God, the Lord Ieſus, whom he keepeth, hee keepeth them faithfully, and carefully: not ſlackly, but diligently: night and day his eye is vponupon them: and as hee himſelfe ſayth, O Hieruſalem! as the Henne gathereth her Birdes vnderunder her winges, ſo would I hauehave done to thee. And no doubt, the Lord gathereth his owne, vnderunder the wings of his grace, and keepeth them after a moſt tender and intiere faſhion of keeping. So wee may learne at his example, thoſe whom God hath concredited vntounto vsus, to be kept in this world by vsus, whether they bee in our Familie, whether they be in the Kirke of God, or whether they bee in the Policie, or Commonwealth, whereſoeuer they be, one or moe, how many or how few they be, who are concredited vntounto vsus, and giuen out of the hand of God to be kept and defended in this world by vsus. Wee learne heere by the example of Chriſt, to keepe them ſo carefullie and faithfullie, that they loſe not in our hand. The Prophet ſayeth, Woe to them that doeth the worke of the Lord negligentlie and ſlacklie. Ierem. 48. verſ. 10. There hee meaneth, Who ſlayeth not, and wracketh not, as the Lord commandeth to ſlay and wracke: Therefore, much more, ſhall woe & curſe appertaine vntounto them, who keepeth not them faithfully, whom the Lord hath concredited vntounto them, and commandeth them to keepe. If woe was denounced againſt them who ſlewe not, and wracked not, at the commandement of the Lord, a double woe ſhall appertaine vntounto them, who neglecteth them whom the Lord hath concredited to their charge.
Nowe I come to the ſeconde circumſtance, J hauehave kept them in they Name: that is to ſay, By thy vertue and power. All the power that the Sonne hath, hee hath it giuen him of the Father: and all the power that the Sonne hath, is the power of the Father: and therefore he acknowledgeth the keeping of theſe Diſciples, to be by the power of the Father: and ſo he glorifieth his Father in Heauen. The Sonne in any thing that he doth, he euer glorifieth the Father. Who is he in this world, who is able to keepe a ſoule by his owne power? Who hath power in his own hand, to keepe a body, or a Child, or the meaneſt thing whatſoeuer? There is no fleſh that hath power to keepe the leaſt in their Family: No, a King hath no power to keepe a poore body in his Commonwealth, except the LORD look down from Heauen, and wait vponupon that body, which he hath concredited to his keeping. And therefore, ſeeing none of vsus hath power to keep one, except we hauehave power of God from Heauen, then let eueryevery man take heed to his ſpeaking: Let Kings take heed to their ſpeaking: let thoſe that hauehave Families take heed to their ſpeaking: let them who are ſet ouer the Kirke, take heed to their ſpeaking: let none ſay, I hauehave done this: let no fleſh ſtand vp, and ſay, I hauehave brought ſuch and ſuch good works to perfection by my fore-ſight, wiſedome, and power: The LORD ſhall take all power from thee, and turne it into ſhame, if thou glorifieſt not him who hath giuen thee power, and ſayeſt not, I hauehave kept them by the power of GOD. PAVL ſayth, I hauehave laboured more than they all: But, not I, but the grace of GOD in mee. So, beware of your ſpeaking: blaſpheme not the LORD in ſpeaking: when ye hauehave done it, ſay, GOD hath done it, what was I, but a poore Inſtrument, raiſed vp by the power of GOD?
I go forward to the third circumſtance, whereby he amplifieth this keeping: It is from the cauſe moouing him: Theſe whome thou gaueſt mee, J kept. The cauſe was, The Father had put them into his hands: that was the chiefeſt reſpect that he had in keping his Diſciples. Well, Brethren, there are many cauſes wherfore we ſhould keep them whom GOD hath concredited vntounto vsus: but ſurely this ſhould be the chiefeſt, that ſhould mooue vsus to wait on them, and night and day to care for them, becauſe GOD hath put them into our hands, & deliuered them to vsus, to be kept by vsus. We ſhould ay remember on this, The Lord hath put them in my hand, and I muſt make anſwere for them, at the Great day of the Lord. Yea if the leaſt one of them periſh through thy default, the blood ſhall be required at thy hand. Look the Acts of th'Apoſtles, Chap. 20. verſ. 28. where Paul, when he had called the Kirke together, he cōmeth to the Elders of Epheſus, and ſayth, Take heede to your ſelues, and to all the flocke, whereof the holie Ghoſt hath made you ouer-ſeers, to feede the Kirke of God, &c. This is his exhortation. The firſt band that he binds them with, is this, The holy Ghoſt hath made you ouer-ſeers for them: and ye muſt make anſwere for eueryevery one of them: Night and day, therefore, take heed to them. Another band which he binds them with, is, Hee hath ſhed his blood for them. So, if we would be carefull to keepe them, whom GOD hath giuen vsus, this muſt be the firſt, GOD hath concredited theſe, and theſe, to me: therefore as I ſhall anſwere at that Great day, I muſt keep them. No, thou dareſt not ſtand vp before that terrible Tribunall ſeat, if thou keep them not faythfully, whom the LORD hath concredited vntounto thee. It is no ſmall matter for a King to keep a Common-wealth: or for a Magiſtrat to keep them who are concredited vntounto him: Yea, will the King make his paſtime of it, that he hath gotten ſuch a care? Will a Miniſter take his paſtime, who hath gotten the care of a Kirke? Or a man, or a woman, who hath gotten a Family, ſhall they take their paſtime, without regard? Is this the end wherfore God hath concredited thoſe to them? No, heauy ſhall thy judgement be, if one periſh through thy default: the blood of that one ſhall be required at thy hands.
Now we come to the fourth circumſtance: The fourth circumſtance is the effect that followed this carefull keeping of his Diſciples. The effect was this, Neuer one was loſt, who was giuen to him, of his Diſciples, who were twelue, except one, Judas, the ſon of perdition▪ that is, a man addicted to deſtruction, and wrack; to the end that the Scripture might be fulfilled. There is an higher cauſe than this: that is, To the end that that decree which God made concerning Iudas, & his perdition, ſhould ſtand. The Scripture was but a reuelation of that Decree: for as GOD is immutable, ſo his Decree ſhould ſtand, that Iudas ſhould be condemned.
Well, Brethren, ye ſee a faire effect that followeth a careful keeping: None are loſt, becauſe the Sonne keepeth them: he glorifieth the Father in his keeping, becauſe the Father had concredited them vntounto him: and therfore it followeth wel, that ſeeing he kept them, none was loſt, but Iudas. Where a man is faithfull in keping, & careful night & day to preſerue them who are concredited vntounto him, becauſe God hath giuen them vntounto him, firſt he glorifies God in keeping them: next, by his faithfull keeping he procures the eye of God to be ay watching ouer them: and laſt of all, certainly that man will ſee a faire effect of his care & keeping: None ſhalbe loſt, except thoſe who are ſeparate to be ſons of perdition, as Iudas was: that is, who are ordained to deſtruction from all eternity: For, Brethren, thoſe who are ordained to deſtruction, made veſſels of wrath & perdition, who are appointed to hell euerlaſtingly, all the keeping in the world will not keep them: all the careful attendāce in the world wil not ſaue them. Al the keeping of Chriſt, who was more careful than any man in the world, could not keep Iudas from deſtruction. So, who are ordained to deſtruction, no keeping ſhall ſerue them, but they ſhall periſh euerlaſtingly. It may be, that the ſonnes of perdition may be kept in an outward Diſcipline; but at laſt they ſhall be manifeſted to be but hypocrites: they ſeeme to be the Children of Light: and who will put a difference betwixt them, and thoſe who are ordained to ſaluation? Who will put a difference betwixt Iudas, and the reſt of the Diſciples for a time? Judas ſeemed an Apoſtle for the time, as well as Matthew, James, and Iohn, and the reſt. So for a time, they who are ordained for death, will ſeeme to be kept, and they will heare the Preaching, and who will be ſo earneſt to take heed as they? But howbeit they giuegive a faire ſhow outwardly in their behauiour, in the end, behold, there ſhall a ſhamefull deſtruction befall them: and let them ſhow to the world what they will, they ſhall ſhow themſelues to be Apoſtates from Ieſus Chriſt.
Therefore, Brethren, …e neuer content of an outward profeſſion, till that ye find your ſelues on a ſure ground: and reſt not, till that by fayth and regeneration, ye get an aſſurance of your election: and till that ye be ſure, that God hath made a decree, that ye ſhall hauehave life euerlaſting. And when ye ſee men and women, who ſeeme to ſtand, fall away, & make a foule defection, it is an euill token. This for the foure circumſtances: He kept them carefully, and in the Name of his Father: becauſe the Father had giuen them him, he was the more carefull of them: and therefore it followeth, that none was loſt, but Iudas.
Now let vsus come to the concluſion: Therefore, Father, I ſpeake theſe thinges: that is, I recommende them vntounto thee, that thou ſhouldeſt keep them: I come to thee: I leaue them now here. It would ſeeme, that Chriſt, when hee went out of this worlde, hee left his owne ſo in the worlde, that hee had no more the keeping and cuſtodie of them, and that, as it were, that hee denudeth his hands of them: this would mooue anie man. Now, Brethren, the Lord Ieſus neuer denuded his hands of his Diſciples: he neuer gaue quite ouer them whom he once kept: but this is the meaning of his wordes, when hee died hee ceaſed to keepe them in that manner that hee kept them before when hee was in the worlde: for when hee was with them in the world, he kept them by his bodily preſence, and went before them, and they followed after him. This keeping ceaſed when Chriſt went out of the worlde: but as for that keeping which is the ſpirituall keeping, it neuer ceaſeth to the ende of the world: And the Lord now in the Heauen, hee keepeth more ſurely his owne by his Spirit, than he kept his Diſciples when he was in the worlde with them. And all this keeping that hee requireth at the Fathers hand, is, That he ſhould keepe them by him. No keeping of the Father, but by the Sonne, who is glorified in the Heauen, at the right hand of the Father.
Wel, Brethrē, we ſee of this argument thus far, They whom the Lord Ieſus died for, and they whom he kept in this world, the Father of Ieſus Chriſt keepeth them in the abſence of Ieſus Chriſt, till the Lord come againe in his body. Looke whome to the Lord had an eye, when hee was in the earth humbled, whoſoeuer they were to whome hee had an eye, the Father, from his vp-going to the Heauen, till his comming againe, hath an eye to them, and watcheth ouer them. It is true, wee who liue this day, (I meane the Elect,) wee were not then with Ieſus Chriſt, as his Diſciples were, and he kept not vsus after the manner that he kept his Diſciples, becauſe wee were not: Yet there is not ſo much as one of the Elect that nowe are, or yet ſhall bee heereafter, to the ende of the worlde, but Ieſus Chriſt, euen humbled, had his eye vponupon them: and before they came into the world, many yeeres, he loued them: and therefore it followeth, if thy conſcience will teſtifie to thee, that Ieſus Chriſt our Lorde, when hee was humbled in the earth, when hee prayed for ſinners, and when hee died in the earth; if, I ſay, thy conſcience will teſtifie vntounto thee, and ſay, My Lord had an eye to mee, as well as to Peter, in his death, and as hee had to Iohn, Iames, Matthew, &c. certainly thou mayeſt bee aſſured, that the eye of the Father of Ieſus Chriſt watcheth ouer thee, till Ieſus Chriſt come againe. Paul was not conuerſant with Chriſt, as the reſt were into the earth: for Paul was called after the Aſcenſion of Chriſt, when he was glorified: yet Paul ſayeth, The Sonne of God, in whom he belieued, loued him, and gaue himſelfe for him. Galat. Chap. 2. verſ. 20. Meaning, that Chriſt, when he died, hee had a reſpect to him. The reſpect which Chriſt had in his death to Paul, the ſame he had to eueryevery choſen man, and woman, to the end of the world: And therefore ſay thou, that when Chriſt died, he died for me, and he loued me, and his eye was vponupon me. If thou canſt ſay this, thou art in the cuſtody and keeping of the Father, till Ieſus Chriſt come againe. There is another thing to be marked here: What maketh the Sonne ſo bold, to ſtand vp before the Father, and deſire him to keepe his Diſciples, whom he ſhould leaue behind him, when he was going vp to Heauen? Looke the argument: I hauehave kept them faythfully, therefore, Father, in mine abſence, keepe thou them. Who dare be ſo bold to face God, once to bid him keep them, whom he hath concredited vntounto them? What King in the world, dare be ſo bold, to pray for his Subjects, (the King is bound aſwell to pray for his Subjects, as the Subjects are for the King, or as a Miniſter is for his Flock) & ſay, O Lord, keep theſe Subjects? And what Miniſter dare be bold to ſay, Lord, keep my Flock, or Family? None but he who hath a conſcience that he did his duety, and was diligent night & day in keeping them. No man dare recōmend any to God, who hath not a care to keep them whom God hath cōcredited vntounto him: And therfore, theſe careles bodies, who rule Kirks, Kingdoms, or Families, cannot pray: And if they pray, they ſcorne God in praying: they are nothing but hypocrits, with fained voyces. What mooued Chriſt to pray for his Diſciples? A ſolicitude he had night & day of their weale. No, ere any of them had died thorow his default, he had rather died himſelf. This made Dauid to watch ſo carefully ouer the people. And Paul, 2. Cor. chap. 12. when he hath recounted th'afflictions he ſuffered, All is but outwarde, ſaith he, but there is one inward, which preſſeth me like an army: and that was, a ſolicitude & carefulnes he had for the Kirke of God, planted in his time: Who is afflicted, ſaith he, but J am afflicted? that is, No man is afflicted, but I am alſo afflicted: Who is offended, but I am alſo burnt? The offence of the Kirke, is a ſkauding and burning to mee. Of this care proceedeth prayer for the Kirke of God. But as for vsus in this Land, we are like to loſe the Kirke: The King hath no care: the Nobilitie are gone backe, and hauehave no care: the people and the whole eſtate are careleſſe. If this way we lie ſtil in ſecurity, & be careleſſe of the weale of the Kirke, what can we looke for at length, but that the Kirke ſhall be wracked, and come to confuſion? But to what end is it that he would hauehave the Father to keep them? Look the words: he ſaith, That my ioy may be full in them. Before he ſpake of another end, to wit, That they might bee one, as the Father and the Sonne are one. Then, whomſoeuer the Father taketh into his cuſtody, he keepeth them to the end, that both they may hauehave peace with others, & alſo in their own ſoules and conſciences: for this peace of conſcience is that joye whereof now he ſpeaketh. But wherfore is it that he calleth this their joy his joy? In what reſpect is it called the joy of Ieſus? Becauſe this joy and peace of conſcience that paſſeth all vnderſtanding, could neuer come into the ſoules of the Apoſtles, or of any of GODS children ſince then; but thorow the ſprinkling of the blood of Ieſus, the Mediator betwixt God and man. So there is no ſolide joy nor peace of conſcience, vntill the time that the conſcience be firſt ſprinkled with the blood of Ieſus: and then the conſcience being once thus ſprinkled, the ſoule will find ſuch joy as no tongue can expreſſe. Thus much for the eight argument.
The ninth argument is from that hatred wherewith the world perſued his Diſciples, & hated them, The world hateth them, therfore, Father, keep thou them: they chaſe them here and there: now, Father, be thou their refuge. Alace! it is a great miſery to be chaſed & hunted here & there, & to be perſued in the world, & in the mean time to get no reſt in God: when thou getteſt no reſt with God, & no reſt in the world, miſerable is thy eſtate: but when thou getteſt reſt in the boſom of God, thou haſt joy & quietnes in thy hart: this is it he recōmēdeth to the Father, Father, the world hateth them, therfore let them get reſt in thee: becauſe they are not of the world, it hateth them: the world loueth none, but godles ill men: now I hauehave giuen thy word to them, & it is thy word that hath ſanctified them, & ſeparated them frō the world: for it is this word that will take thee out of the world: if the word of Chriſt ſeparate thee not from the pollution of the world, thou ſhalt periſh in the pollutiō & ſtink of the world. Then he compareth them with himſelfe, They are like vntounto me, & thou ſhouldſt louelove them the better: for the world loues them the worſe, that they louelove me: the word of Ieſus, as it makes vsus vnlike the world, ſo it makes vsus like Ieſus Chriſt: if the word of Ieſus make thee not holy, nothing ſhal mak thee holy, & thē nothing ſhall euer mak thee like Ieſus Chriſt: but this holy word of Chriſt, as it makes vsus vnlike the world, ſo it makes vsus like our head. Now he meanes, that this likenes with him was the ground of perſecution: the world perſecuted them becaus they were like him, whom the world loued not: for, Brethren, this is the ground of perſecution, to wit, the hatred of God, the hatred of the Light, and the hatred of that Majeſtie of ſelfe. Well then, yee ſee the hatred, and the perſecution of this worlde, is wrong vnderſtood: men thinke that when any man is perſecuted, or hated of the world, that God hateth them alſo: this is the judgement of the worlde: when they ſee any man troubled for the cauſe of Ieſus Chriſt, they will ſaye, God hateth this man. Nowe this is ſo falſe a judgement, that by the contrary, the hatred of this world is the ſureſt token that can be, that God loueth thee: If there were no more to tell thee, but the ſence and experience that godly men hauehave of Gods preſence, in the middeſt of the hatred of this worlde, it will tell thee, that God loueth them. A man who is perſecuted for Ieſus Chriſt, will feele ſuch a preſence in his heart of God, that the tongue of man nor Angel cannot tell: And when he is chaſed, till he pant, and bee breathleſſe, hee will feele ſuch a preſence, that hee will count nothing of all the trouble of the world: as Paul ſayth, Rom. 8. verſ. 31. Jf God bee with vsus, who can bee againſt vsus? And againe, Who can ſeparate vsus from the louelove of God in Ieſus Christ? Hee who feeleth this, hee will ſtand vp, and ſpit in the face of all the Tyrantes in the world: he will defie the world: the man who is fartheſt out of the worlde, Ieſus Chriſt is neareſt him: Goe out of the worlde, goe out of Hieruſalem, bearing the reproach of Ieſus: and ſo thou ſhalt hauehave a ſenſe of that joye: the more thou conformeſt thee to the worlde, the nearer man or woman is joyned with this curſed generation, (the moſte curſed generation that euer was on the face of the earth,) thou ſhalt finde that thy God ſhall bee the farther from thee: when thou liueſt as they liue, and ſpeakeſt as they ſpeake, I appeale thy conſcience, if thou findeſt then the comfort and joye which thou foundeſt, being from that ſocietie? And if thou ſayeſt, thou haſt it, thou lieſt. If it were no more, but that ſenſe, it may tell thee, that this doctrine is true. Nowe I ſhall ende the concluſion.
When he hath vſed this argument, he ſubjoyneth, I pray not that thou ſhouldest take them out of the worlde: but that thou ſhouldeſt keepe them from the euill of the worlde: for I hauehave a worke to doe with them: that is, to ſende them out to this curſed generation: therefore, Father, keepe them: this is the thing that I praye, when I ſhall ſend them out to the world, that thou leaue them not, but in the middeſt of perſecution keepe them, till my worke bee ended. He craueth not, that they ſhould be free of perſecution: for of before ye heard, he ſayth, In the world yee ſhall hauehave oppreſsion, but bee of good comfort, in me ye ſhall hauehave peace: therefore hee craueth not that they ſhould bee free of all perſecution: but that in the middeſt of perſecution, the Father ſhould bee with them, and make them victorious: & more than victorious, euen to triumph. Yee may marke in theſe words, two remedies againſt the perſecution of the worlde: The godly hauehave two remedies againſt the perſecution of the world: the firſt is When the Lord taketh his owne out of this miſerable world, to dwell with himſelfe in joy and felicity. The other remedy againſt perſecution, is, when the Lord letteth his owne ſtill fight on in a battell, and in the meane time keepeth them wonderfully in the middeſt of perſecution: ſo that the world will be compelled, to wonder, that a man, or a woman, who feeleth the Lordes preſence, will ſo triumph in affliction. All this worlde hath no power to take their life, ſo long as the Lord hath his worke in their hands. All the Tyrants vnderunder the Heauen hauehave no power to harme them: and namely, a Preacher, till he end his worke for the which the Lord ſet him in the world, all the Tyrants in the Earth cannot take his life from him: no, they cannot touch the leaſt hair of his head, for they are numbred: yea, rather ere he get any harme, the Lord will ſend his Angel out of Heauen, as he ſent him to Peter, and pull him out of the throat of death.
Now, Brethren, looke to the order which the Lord vſeth in theſe remedies: he will not incontinent take his owne out of the world, howbeit the world be vnworthy of them: this world is not worthy of a good man: he will let them tarry till his work be ended: There is not one of vsus, when the Lord hath put a piece of work into our hands, in our own calling, that he will take out of this world, till we end it, to the glory of his holy Name. As I told you of before, it is a wonderfull thing▪ how the Lord will keep his own: and he will not at an inſtant take them out of this world. Howbeit a man will mourne, and groane, vnderunder the burthen, as Paul did, when he ſayth, J chooſe rather to flitte out of this bodie, and to goe dwell with the Lord: yet the Lord will hauehave him abyding a while. Yea, howbeit a man will hauehave an heauy heart in this his Pilgrimage, yet the Lord will hauehave him to remaine a while here: and in the meane time he will aboundantly comfort him, and will hold vp his head, as he did to Paul, when he deliuered him out of the Lyons mouth: that is, from the bloody Tyrant Nero: J am aſſured, ſayth he, and I hauehave a confidence, that the Lord ſhall deliuer mee, and keepe me to his heauenly Kingdome. There is the remedy: he wil let thee bide ſtill in the world, yet an haire of thine head ſhall not fall without his will, but he will keepe thee to that heauenly Kingdome: and when he hath ended his worke with thee, he ſhall make thee to reſt in peace, and ſhall bring thee to himſelfe in his Kingdome. Let no man thinke, that ſo long as the Lord hath any worke adoe with any of his owne, that he will let them be taken out of the world. It is a vaine ſpeaking, when any man is taken out of the Common-wealth, or taken away by death, If this man had bene liuing, this had not bene done, and this euill had not come to paſſe. Vnderſtand this, when the Lord taketh him, the Lord hath done his worke with him: the Lord knoweth there is no more adoe with him, and therefore he taketh him. The enemies of the trueth thinke that they get a great victory, when a good man is taken out of the world. O Fooles! is not this the laſt deliuerance of the godly, who glorified God in their mortall bodies? For he ſhall glorifie them in deſpite of the world: they ſhall triumph ouer the world: No, the ſword, the fire, &c. cannot hinder this their triumph: Let wicked men come on their way, let them eſſay and proue on their way, they ſhall find in end, that the godly ſhall triumph, and in that Great day, they ſhall ſee them glorified: and then they ſhall ſay, Thought we not once that theſe men were vtterly wracked, whom now we ſee ſo glorious? So not only ſhame and confuſion ſhall light on them for their wickednes, but alſo this ſhall wonderfully aggreadge their condemnation, when they ſhall ſee them glorified, whom they perſecuted in the world.
Let vsus reſt in this hope, and let vsus labour in this world, howbeit with hatred and with contempt, and we ſhall get the laſt remedy: the Lord ſhall take vsus to himſelfe, and we ſhall ceaſe from all labour, and ſhall be glorified with him in the Heauens, thorow Ieſus Chriſt: To whom, with the Father, and the holy Spirit, be all honour, praiſe, and glory, for euermore.
AMEN.