The Life of Faith, Part 1 · Additions

The Life of Faith · Part 1 · Additions

p. 48HEBREWS 11.1.

Now Faith is the ſubſtance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not ſeen.

CHAP. I. For Conviction.

IN the opening of this Text, I have already ſhewed, that [it is the nature and uſe of Faith to be inſtead of preſence and ſight; or to make things abſent future and unſeen, to be to us, as to our Eſtimation, Reſolution and Converſation, as if they were preſent, and before our eyes: Though not as to the degree, yet as to the ſincerity of our acts.

In the handling of this Doctrine, I have already ſhewed, that this Faith is a grounded juſtifiable knowledge, and not a fancy, or uneffectual opinion; having for its object the infallible Revelation, and certain Truth of God; and not a falſhood, nor a meer probability or veriſimile. I have ſhewed how ſuch a Faith will work; how far it ſhould carry us, if its evidence were fully entertained and improved; and how far it doth carry all that have it ſincerely in the leaſt degree; and I have ſhewed ſome of the moving conſiderations, that ſhould prevail with us to live upon the things unſeen, as if they were open to our ſight.

I think I may ſuddenly proceed here to the remaining part of the Application, without any recital of the explication or confirmation, the truth lying ſo naked in the Text it ſelf.

The Life of Faith, and the Life of Senſe, are the two waies p. 49that all the world do walk in, to the two extreamly different ends, which appear when death withdraws the veil. It is the ordination of God, that mens own eſtimation, choice and endeavours, ſhall be the neceſſary preparative to their Fruition. Nemo nolens bonus aut beatus eſt. Men ſhall have no better than they value, and chuſe, and ſeek: Where earthly things are higheſt in the eſteem, and deareſt to the mind of man, ſuch perſons have no higher, nor more durable a portion. Where the heavenly things are higheſt and deareſt to the ſoul, and are practically preferred, they are the portion of that ſoul. Where the Treaſure is, the heart will be, Matth. 6.21. The ſanctifying ſpirit doth lead the ſpiritual man, by a ſpiritual Rule, in a ſpiritual way, to a ſpiritual, glorious, durable felicity. The ſenſual part, with the ſenſual inclination communicated to the corrupted mind and will, doth by carnal reaſonings, and by carnal means, purſue and emb…ace a preſent, fading, carnal intereſt: and therefore it findeth and attaineth no more. The fl…ſh luſteth againſt the Spirit, and the ſpirit againſt the fleſh; and theſe are contrary the one to the other, Gal. 5.17. They that are after the fleſh, do mind the things of the fleſh▪ but they that are after the ſpirit, the things of the ſpirit▪ To be carnally minded is death; but to be ſpiritually minded is life and peace: Becauſe the carnal mind is enmity againſt God; for it is not ſubject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be: So then, they that are in the fleſh cannot pleaſe God. If any man have not the Spirit of Chriſt, the ſame is none of his. If we live after the fleſh, we shall die: but if by the ſpirit we mortifie the deeds of the body, we shall live. Rom. 8. to v. 14. Whatſoever a man ſoweth, that shall he alſo reap. He that ſoweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that ſoweth to the ſpirit, shall of the ſpirit reap everlaſting life, Gal. 6.7, 8. As a man is, ſo he loveth and deſireth; as he deſireth, he ſeeketh; and as he ſeeketh, he findeth and poſſeſſeth. If you know which world, what riches a man prefers, intends, and liveth for, you may know which world is his inheritance, and whither he is going as to his perpetual abode.

Reaſon enableth a man to know and ſeek more than he ſeeth: And Faith informeth and advanceth Reaſon, to know, that by the means of ſupernatural Revelation, that by no other means p. 50is fully known. To ſeek and hope for no better than we know, and to know no more than is objectively revealed, (while we hinder not the revelation) is the blameleſs imperfection of a creature, that hath limited faculties and capacities. To know what's Beſt, and yet to chuſe, and ſeek an inferiour inconſiſtent Good; and to refuſe and neglect the Beſt, when it is diſcerned; is the courſe of ſuch as have but a ſuperficial opinion of the good refuſed, or a knowledge not wakened to ſpeak ſo loudly as may be effectual for choice; and whoſe ſenſuality maſtereth their wills and reaſon, and leads them backward: And thoſe that know not, becauſe they would not know; or hear not, becauſe they would not hear, are under that ſame dominion of the fl…ſh, which is an enemy to all knowledge, that is an enemy to its delights and intereſt. To profeſs to know good, and yet refuſe it; and to profeſs to know evil, and yet to chuſe it, and this predominantly, and in the main, is the deſcription of a ſelf-condemning Hypocrite: And if malignity and oppoſition of the Truth profeſſed, be added to the Hypocriſie, it comes up to that Phariſaical blindneſs and obdurateneſs, which prepareth men for the remedileſs ſin.

Conſider then but of the profeſſion of many of the people of this Land, and compare their practice with it, and judge what compaſſion the condition of many doth beſpeak. If you will believe them, they profeſs that they verily believe in the inviſible God; in a Chriſt unſeen to them; in the Holy Spirit, gathering a holy Church to Chriſt, and imploying them in a communion of Saints: that they believe a judgement to come, upon the glorious coming of the Lord; and an everlaſting life of joy or torment thereupon. All this is in their Creed: they would take him for a damnable Heretick that denyeth it; and perhaps would conſent that he be burnt at a ſtake: So that you would think theſe men ſhould live, as if Heaven and Hell were open to their ſight. But O what an Hypocritical Generation are the ungodly! how their lives do give their tongues the lye! (Remember that I apply this to no better men.) It is a wonder that ſuch men can believe themſelves, when they ſay they do indeed believe the Goſpel: And ſhews what a monſter the blind deceitful heart of an impenitent ſinner is: In good ſadneſs can they think that they truly believe that God is p. 51God, and yet ſo wilfully diſobey him? that Heaven is Heaven, and yet prefer the world before it? that Hell is Hell, and yet will venture upon it for a luſt, or a thing of nought? What! believe that there is at hand a life of endleſs joy! and no more mind it! but hate them that ſet their hearts upon it! Do they believe, that except a man be converted and new born, he ſhall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? as Chriſt hath told them, Matth. 18.3. John 3.3, 5. and yet never trouble their minds about it, to try whether they are converted and new born, or not? Do they believe God, that no man ſhall ſee him without holineſs? Heb. 12.14. and yet dare they be unholy? and perhaps deride it? Do they believe that Chriſt will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Goſpel of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; who ſhall be puniſhed with everlaſting deſtruction, from the preſence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, 2 Theſ. 2.8, 9. and yet dare they diſobey the Goſpel! Do they take God for their abſolute Lord and Governour, while they will not ſo much as meditate on his Laws, but care more what a mortal man ſaith, or what their fleſh and carnal reaſon ſaith, than what he ſaith to them in his holy Word? Do they take Chriſt for their Saviour, and yet would not be ſaved by him from their ſins, but had rather keep them? Do they take the Holy Ghoſt for their Sanctifier, while they will not have a ſanctified heart or life, and love it not in thoſe that have it? Do they take Heaven for their endleſs home and happineſs? while they neither mind nor ſeek it, in compariſon of the world? And do they take the world for vanity and vexation, while they mind and ſeek it more than Heaven? Do they believe the communion of Saints, while they fly from it, and perhaps deteſt and perſecute it? Is light and darkneſs more contrary than their words and deeds? And is not HYPOCRISIE as viſible in their practice, as Chriſtianity in their profeſſion? It is the complexion of their Religion. HYPOCRITE is legibly written in the forehead of it. They proclaim their ſhame to all that they converſe with. When they have ſaid, they believe the life to come, they tell men by your ungodly worldly lives, that they are diſſemblers. When their tongue hath loudly ſaid, that they are Chriſtians, their tongue and p. 52hand more loudly ſay, that they are Hypocrites. And when they profeſs their Faith but now and then, in a lifeleſs outſide piece of worſhip, they profeſs their Hypocriſie all the day long: in their impious neglect of God and their ſalvation; in their carnal ſpeeches; in their worldly lives, and in their enmity to the practice of the ſame Religion which they profeſs. Their Hypocriſie is a web, ſo thin, and ſo tranſparent, that it leaves their nakedneſs open to their ſhame. They have not Profeſſion enough to make a conſiderable cover for their unbelief. They hide but their tongues: the reſt even, heart and all, is bare.

O the ſtupendious power of ſelf love! the wonderful blindneſs and ſtupidity of the ungodly! the dreadfulneſs of the judgement of God in thus d…ſerting the w…lful reſiſters of his grace! That ever men (in other things of ſeeming wiſdom) ſhould be ſuch ſtrangers to themſelves, and ſo deceived by themſelves, as to think they love the thing they hate! and to think that their hearts are ſet upon Heaven, when they neither love it, nor the way that leadeth to it; but are principally bent another way: that when they ar… ſtrangers or enemies to a holy life, they can yet make themſelves believe, that they are holy; and that they ſeek that firſt, which they never ſeek; and make that the drift and buſineſs of their lives, which was never the ſerious buſineſs of an hour! O Hypocrites! ask any impartial man of reaſon, that ſees your lives, and hears your prayers, whether you pray, and live, like men that believe that Heaven or Hell muſt be their reward! Ask your families, whether they perceive by your conſtant prayer, and diligent endeavours, and holy converſations, that your hearts are ſet on a life to come! It was a cutting anſwer of a late Apoſtate, to one that told him of the unreaſonableneſs of Infidels that denyed the life to come; ſaith he, There's none in the world ſo unreaſonable as you Chriſtians, that believe that there is an endleſs life of joy or miſery to come, and do no more to obtain the one, and eſcape the other. Did I believe ſuch a life as this, I would think all too little that I could do or ſuffer, to make it ſure. Who ſees the certainty, greatneſs, and eternity of the Crown of Life, in the reſolvedneſs, fervency, and conſtancy of your holy labour! You take up with the picture of Sermons and Prayers, p. 53and with the name of Chriſtianity and holy obedience: A little more Religion you will admit, than a Parrot may learn, or a Poppet may exerciſe. Compare your care, and labour, and coſt, for Heaven, and for this world. That you believe the flattering deceitful world, we ſee by your daily ſolicitouſneſs about it: You ſeek it; you ſtrive for it; you fall out with all that ſtand in your way; you are at it daily, and have never done: But who can ſee, that you ſeriouſly believe another world? you talk idly, and wantonly, and proudly by the hours; but you talk of Heaven and holineſs but by the minutes: You do not turn the glaſs when you go to your unneceſſary recreations, or your vain diſcourſe; or at leaſt, you can ſtay when the glaſs is run: But in hearing the moſt neceſſary truths of God, or in praying for everlaſting life, the hour ſeems long to you; and the tedious Preacher is your wearineſs and moleſtation. You do not feaſt and play by the glaſs; but if we do not preach and pray by it exactly, but exceed our hour, though in ſpeaking of, and for eternity, we are your burden, and put your languid patience to it, as if we were doing you ſome intollerable wrong.

In worldly matters, you are weary of giving, but ſeldom of receiving: you grudge at the asker, but ſeldom at the giver. But if the gift be ſpiritual and heavenly, you are a weary to hear talk of it, and expoſtulate the caſe with him that offereth it: and he muſt ſhew by what authority he would do you good! If by ſerious holy conference he would further your preparations for the life to come, or help you to make ſure of life eternal, he is examined what power he hath to meddle with you, and promote your ſalvation: And perhaps he is ſnapp…ſhly told, he is a buſie, ſawcy fellow, and you bid him meddle with his own matters, and let you ſpeed as you can, and keep his compaſſion and charity for himſelf; you give him no thanks for his undeſired help. The moſt laborious faithful ſervant you like beſt, that will do you the moſt work, with greateſt skill, and care, and diligence: But the moſt laborious faithful inſtructer and watchman for your ſouls, you moſt ungratefully vilifie, as if he were more buſie and preciſe than needs, and were upon ſome unprofitable work; and you love a ſuperficial hypocritical Miniſtry, that p. 54teacheth you but to complement with Heaven, and leads you ſuch a dance of comical, outſide, hypocritical worſhip, as is agreeable to your own hypocriſie: And thus when you are mocking God, you think you worſhip him, and merit Heaven by the abuſe. Should a M…niſter or other friend be but half as earneſt with you, for the life of your immortal ſouls, as you are your ſelves for your eſtates, or friends, or lives in any danger, you would take them for Fanaticks, and perhaps do by them as his carnal friends did once by Chriſt, Mark 3.21. that went out to lay hold on him, and ſaid, He is beſide himſelf.] For trifles you account it wiſdom to be ſerious: but for everlaſting things, you account it folly, or to be more buſie and ſolici…ous than needs. You can believe an act of pardon and indempnity from man; when as you are little ſolicitous about a pardon from God, to whoſe Juſtice you have forfeited your ſouls: and if a man be but earneſt in begging his pardon, and praying to be ſaved from everlaſting miſery, you ſcorn him, becauſe he does it without book, and ſay, he whines, or ſpeaks through the noſe; forgetting that we ſhall have you one of theſe daies, as earneſt in vain, as they are that ſhall prevail for their ſalvation; and that the terrible approach of death and judgement, ſhall teach you alſo to pray without book, and cry, Lord, Lord, open to us, when the door is ſhut, and it's all too late, Mat. 25.11.

O Sirs, had you but a lively, ſerious foreſeeing faith; that openeth Heaven and Hell as to your ſight, what a cure would it work of this Hypocriſie!

1. Such a ſight would quicken you from your ſloth, and put more life into your thoughts, and words, and all that you attempt for God.

2. Such a ſight would ſoon abate your pride, and humble you before the Lord, and make you ſee how ſhort you are of what you ſhould be.

3. Such a ſight would dull the edge of your covetous deſires, and ſhew you that you have greater things to mind, and another kind of world than this to ſeek.

4. Such a ſight would make you eſteem the temptations of mens reports, but as the ſhaking of a leaf, and their allurements and threats as impertinent ſpeeches, that would caſt a feather p. 55or a fly into the ballance againſt a mountain, or againſt the world.

5. Such a ſight would allay the itch of luſt, and quench the drunkards inſatiable thirſt, and turn your guloſity into moderation and abſtinence; and acquaint you with a higher ſort of pleaſures, that are durable, and worthy of a man.

6. Such a ſight would cure your deſire of paſtime, and ſhew you that you have no time to ſpare, when all is done that neceſſity and everlaſting things require.

7. Such a ſight would change your reliſh of Gods Ordinances, and eſteem of Miniſters, and teach you to love and ſavour that which is ſpiritual and ſerious, rather than hypocritical ſtrains and ſhews: It would teach you better how to judge of Sermons and of Prayers, than unexperienced minds will ever do.

8. Such a ſight would cure your malignity againſt the waies, and diligent ſervants of the Lord; and inſtead of oppoſing them, it would make you glad to be among them, and faſt, and pray, and watch, and rejoyce with them, and better to underſtand what it is to believe the communion of Saints.

In a word, did you but ſee what God reveals, and Saints believe, and muſt be ſeen, I would ſcarce thank you to be all as ſerious and ſolicitous for your ſouls, as the holieſt man alive; and preſently to repent and lament the folly of your negligence and delaies, and to live as men that know no other work to mind, in compariſon of that which extendeth to eternity. I would ſcarce thank the proudeſt of you all, to lie down in the duſt, and in ſackcloth and aſhes, with tears and cryes, to beg the pardon of thoſe ſins, which before you felt no weight in. Nor the moſt ſenſual wretch, that now ſticks ſo cloſe to his ambition, covetouſneſs and luſt, that he ſaith, he cannot leave them, to ſpit them out as loathſome bitterneſs, and be aſhamed of them as fruitleſs things. You would then ſay to the moſt godly, that now ſeem too preciſe, [O why do you not make more haſte, and lay hold on Heaven with greater violence! why do you pray with no more fervency, and bear witneſs againſt the ſins of the world with no more undaunted courage and reſolution; and why do you p. 56not more freely lay out your time, and ſtrength, and wealth, and all that you have on the work of God? Is Heaven worth no more ado than this? Can you do no more for an endleſs life, and the eſcaping of the wrath to come? Shall worldlings over-do you?] Theſe would be your thoughts on ſuch a ſight.

CHAP. II. Ʋſe of Exhortation.

WHat now remains but that you come into the light and beg of God, as the Prophet for his ſervant, 2 King 6.17. to open your eyes, that you may ſee the things that would do ſo much [That the God of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the Father of glory, may give you the ſpirit of revelation, in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your underſtanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, Epheſ. 1.17, 18.] O ſet thoſe things continually before your eyes, that muſt forever be before them! Look ſeriouſly into the infallible word; and whatſoever that fore-tells, believe it as if it were come to paſs. The unbelief of Gods threatnings, and penal Laws, is the perdition of ſouls, as well as the unbelief of Promiſes. God giveth not falſe fire, when he diſchargeth the Canons of his terrible comminations: If you fall not down, you ſhall find that the lightening is attended with the thunder, and execution will be done before you are aware. If there were any doubt of the things unſeen, yet you know it is paſt all doubt, that there's nothing elſe that's durable and worthy of your eſtimation and regard: You muſt be Knights and Gentlemen but a little while: ſpeak but a few words more, and you'l have ſpoke your laſt. When you have ſlept a few nights more, you muſt ſleep till the Reſurrection awake you (as to the fleſh.) Then where are your pleaſant habitations and contents? your honours and attendance? Is a day that is ſpent, or a life that is …xtinct, any thing, or nothing? Is there any ſweetneſs in a feaſt that was eaten, or drink that was drunk, or time that p. 57was ſpent in ſports and mirth, a year ago? Certainly a known vanity ſhould not be preferred before a probable endleſs joy: But when we have certainty as well as excellency and eternity, to ſet againſt certain, tranſitory vanity, what room is left for further deliberation? whether we ſhould prefer the Sun before a ſquib, or a flaſh of lightening that ſuddenly leaves us in the dark, one would think ſhould be an eaſie queſtion to reſolve.

(Up then, and work while it is day: and let us run and ſtrive with all our might. Heaven is at hand as ſure as if you ſaw it. You are certain you can be no loſers by the choice. You part with nothing, for all things: you eſcape the tearing of your heart, by ſubmitting to the ſcratching of a bryer: You that will bear the opening of a vein, for the cure of a Feaver, and will not forbear a neceſſary Journey for the barking of a Dog, or the blowing of the wind: O leap not into Hell to ſcape the ſtinking breath of a ſcorner! Part not with God, with Conſcience, and with Heaven, to ſave your purſes or your fleſh. Chuſe not a merry way to miſery, before a prudent ſober preparation for a perfect everlaſting joy. You would not prefer a merry cup before a Kingdom. You would let go a l…ſſer delight or commodity for a greater here: Thus a greater ſin can forbid the exerciſe of a leſs: And ſhall not endleſs joy weigh down a brutiſh luſt or pleaſure?

If you love pleaſure, take that which is true, and full, and durable. For all that he calleth you to Repentance and Mortification, and neceſſary ſtrictneſs, there is none that's more for your pleaſure and delight than God: or elſe he would not offer you the rivers of pleaſure that are at his right hand; nor himſelf to be your perpetual delight. If you come into a room where are variety of pictures, and one is gravely reading or meditating; and another with a cup or harlot in his hand, is profuſely laughing, with a gaping grining mouth; would you take the latter or the former to be the picture of a wiſe and happy man? Do you approve of the ſtate of thoſe in Heaven? and do you like the way that brought them thither? If not, why ſpeak you of them ſo honourably? and why would you keep holy-daies in remembrance of them? If you do; examine the ſacred records, and ſee whether the Apoſtles and p. 58others that are now honoured as glorified Saints, did live as you do, or rather as thoſe that you think are too preciſe? Did they ſpend the day in feaſting and ſports, and idle talk? Did they ſwagger it out in pride and wealth, & hate their brethren that were not in all things of their conceits? Did they come to Heaven by a worldly, formal, hypocritical, ceremonious Religion? or by faith, and love, and ſelf-denial, and unwearied labouring for their own and other mens ſalvation, while they became the wonder and the ſcorn of the ungodly, and as the off-ſcouring and refuſe of the world? Do you like holineſs, when it is for from you? in a dead man, that never troubled you with his preſence or reproofs, or in a Saint in Heaven, that comes not near you? Why then do you not like it for your ſelves? If it be good, the nearer the better. Your own health, and your own wealth, do comfort you more than another mans: And ſo would your own holineſs, if you had it. If you would ſpeed as they that are now beholding the face of God, believe, and live, and wait, as they did. And as the righteous God did not forget their work and labour of love for his Name; ſo he will remember you with the ſame reward, if you ſhew the ſame diligence to the full aſſurance of hope unto the end; and be not ſlothful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the Promiſes, Heb. 6.10, 11, 12.

O did you but ſee what they now enjoy, and what they ſee, and what they are, and what they do; you would never ſure ſcorn or perſecute a Saint more? If you believe, you ſee, though not as they, with open face. If you believe not, yet it is not your unbelief, that ſhall make Gods Word of none effect, Rom. 3.3. God will be God if you be Atheiſts. Chriſt will be Chriſt if you be Infidels. Heaven will be Heaven if you by deſpiſing it go to Hell. Judgement ſleepeth not when you ſleep: I'ts coming as faſt when you laugh at it, or queſtion it, as if your eyes were open to foreſee it. If you would not believe that you muſt die, do you think that this would delay your death one year or hour? If ten or twenty years time more be allotted you, it paſſeth as ſwiftly, and death and judgement come as ſurely, if you ſpend it in voluptuouſneſs, and unbelief, as if you watcht and waited for your change.

p. 59We preach not to you Ifs and-Ands: It is not, perhaps there is a Heaven and Hell: But as ſure as you are here, and muſt anon go hence, you muſt as ſhortly quit this world, and take up your abode in the world that's now to us inviſible. And no tongue can expreſs how ſenſible you will then be of the things that you will not now be made ſenſible of. O then with what a dreadful view will you look before you and behind you! Behind you, upon Time, and ſay, It is gone, and never will return: and hear conſcience ask you, How you ſpent it, and what you did with it? Before you upon Etern…ty, and ſay, It is come; and to the ungodly will be an Eternity of woe. What a peal will conſcience then ring in the unbelievers ears? [Now the day is come that I was forewarned of! the day and change which I would not believe! whither muſt I now go! what muſt I now do! what ſhall I ſay before the Lord for all the ſin that I have wilfully committed! for all the time of mercy which I loſt! How ſhall I anſwer my contempt of Chriſt! my neglect of means, and enmity to a holy ſerious life! What a diſtracted wretch was I, to condemn and diſlike them that ſpent their lives, in preparation for this day! when now I would give a thouſand worlds, to be but one of the meaneſt of them! O that the Church doors, and the door of grace, were open to me now, as once they were, when I refuſed to enter. Many a time did I hear of this day, and would not believe, or ſoberly conſider of it. Many a time was I intreated to prepare: and I thought an hypocritical trifling ſhew, would have been taken for a ſufficient prep…tion! Now who muſt be my companions! How long muſt I dwell with woe and horrour! God by his Miniſters was wont to call to me, How long, O ſcorner, wilt thou delight in ſcorning? How long wilt thou go on impenitently in thy folly? And now I muſt cry out, How long! How long muſt I feel the wrath of the Almighty! the unquenchable fire! the immortal worm! Alas, for ever! When ſhall I receive one moments eaſe? when ſhall I ſee one glimpſe of hope? O never, never, never! Now I perceive what Satan meant in his temptations! what …in intended! what God meant in the threatnings of his Law! what grace was good for! what Chriſt was ſent for! and what was the deſign and meaning of the Goſpel! and how I ſhould have p. 60valued the offers and promiſes of life! Now I underſtand what Miniſters meant to be ſo importunate with me for my converſion; and what was the cauſe that they would even have kneeled to me, to have procured my return to God in time. Now I underſtand that holineſs was not a needleſs thing; that Chriſt and Grace deſerved better entertainment than contempt; that precious time was worth more than to be waſted idly; that an immortal ſoul, and life eternal ſhould have been more regarded, and not caſt away for ſo ſhort, ſo baſe a fleſhly pleaſure. Now all theſe things are plain and open to my underſtanding: But alas, it's now too late! I know that now to my woe and torment, which I might have known in time to my recovery and joy.

For the Lords ſake, and for your ſouls ſake, open your eyes, and foreſee the things that are even at hand, and prevent theſe fruitleſs lamentations. Judge but as you will all ſhortly judge, and live but as you will wiſh that you had lived, and I deſire no more. Be ſerious as if you ſaw the things that you ſay you do believe.

I know this ſerious diſcourſe of another life, is uſually ungrateful, to men that are conſcious of their ſtrangeneſs to it, and taking up their portion here, are loth to be tormented before the time. This is not the ſmoothing pleaſing way. But remember that we have fleſh as well as you, which longs not to be accounted troubleſome or preciſe: which loves not to diſpleaſe or be diſpleaſed: And had we no higher light and life, we ſhould …a…k as men that ſaw and felt no more than fight and fleſh can reach: But when we are preaching and dying, and you are hearing and dying, and we believe and know, that you are n…w going to ſee the things we ſpeak of, and death will ſtraightway draw aſide the veil, and ſhew you the great amazing ſight, it's time for us to ſpeak, and you to hear, with all our hearts. It's time for us to be ſerious, when we are ſo near the place where all are ſerious. There are none that are in jeſt in Heaven or Hell: pardon us therefore if we jeſt not at the door, and in the way to ſuch a ſerious ſtate. All that ſee and feel are ſerious: and therefore all that truly believe, muſt be ſo too. Were your eyes all opened this hour to ſee what we believe, we appeal to your own conſciences, whether p. 61it would not make you more ſerious than we.

Marvel not if you ſee Believers make another matter of their ſalvation, than thoſe that have hired their underſtandings in ſervice to their ſenſe; and think the world is no bigger or better than their globe or map; and reacheth no further than they can kenn…. As long as we ſee you ſerious about Lands and Lordſhips, and titles and honours, the rattles and tarrying Irons of the cheating world, you muſt give us leave (whether you will or no) to be ſerious about the life eternal. They that ſcramble ſo eagerly for the bonds of worldly riches, and devour ſo greedily the dr…ffe of ſenſual delights, methinks ſhould bluſh (if ſuch animals had the bluſhing property) to blame or deride us for being a little (alas, too little) earneſt in the matters of God and our ſalvation. Can you not pardon us if we love God a little more than you love your luſts; and if we run as faſt for the Crown of Life, as you run after a feather or a fly? or if we breath as hard after Chriſt in holy deſires, as you do in blowing the bubble of vain-glory? If a thouſand pound a year in paſſage to a grave, and the chains of darkneſs, be worth your labour; give us leave to belie… that mercy in order to everlaſting mercy, grace in order to glory, and glory as the end of grace, is worth our labour, and infinitely more.

Your end is narrow, though your way be broad: and our end is broad, though our way be narrow. You build as Miners in Cole-pits do, by digging downwards into the dark; and yet you are laborious: Though we begin on earth, we build towards Heaven, where an attractive loadſtone draws up the workmen and the work; and ſhall we loiter under ſo great encouragements? Have you conſidered that Faith is the beholding grace? the evidence of things not ſeen? and yet have you the hearts to blame Believers, for doing all that they can do, in a caſe of ſuch unſpeakable everlaſting conſequence. If we are Believers, Heaven and Hell are as i… were open to our ſight? And would you wiſh us to trifle in the ſight of Heaven? or to leap into Hell, when we ſee it as before us? what name can expreſs the inhumane cruelty of ſuch a wiſh o… motion? or the unchriſtian folly of thoſe that will obey you?

p. 62O give us leave to be ſerious for a Kingdom which by Faith we ſee! Blame us for this, and blame us that we are not beſide our ſelves. Pardon us that we are awake, when the thunder of Jehovah's voice doth call to us, denouncing everlaſting wrath to all that are ſenſual and ungodly. Were we aſleep, as you are, we would lie ſtill and take no heed what God or man ſaid to us.

Pardon us that we are Chriſtians, and believe theſe things, ſeeing you profeſs the ſame your ſelves. Diſclaim not the practice till you dare diſclaim the profeſſion. If we were Infidels, we would do as the ungodly world: we would purſue our preſent pleaſures and commodity, and ſay, that things above us are nothing to us; and would take Religion to be the Troubler of the world: But till we are Infidels or Atheiſts at the heart, we cannot do ſo.

Forgive us that we are men; if you take it to be pardonable. Were we bruits, we would eat, and drink, and play, and never trouble our ſelves or others, with the care of our ſalvation, or the fears of any death but one; or with reſiſting ſenſual inclinations, and meditating on the life to come; but would take our eaſe and pleaſure while we may.

At leaſt forgive us that we are not blocks or ſtones; that we have life and feeling. Were we inſenſate clods, we would not ſee the light of Heaven, nor hear the roaring of the Lion, nor fear the threats of God himſelf: we would not complain, or ſigh, or groan, becauſe we feel not.

If therefore we may have leave to be awake; and to be in our wi…s, to be Chriſtians; to be men; to be creatures that have life and ſenſe, forgive us that we believe the living God; that we cannot laugh at Heaven and Hell, nor jeſt at the threatned wrath of the Almighty. If theſe things muſt make us the object of the worlds reproach and malice, let me rather be a reproached man, than an honoured beaſt; and a hated Chriſtian, than a beloved Infidel; and rather let me live in the midſt of malice and contempt, than paſs through honour unto ſhame, through mirth to miſery, and a ſenſleſs, to a feeling death. Hate us when we are in Heaven, and ſee who will be the ſufferer by it. If ever we ſhould begin to nod and relapſe towards your hypocritical formality, and ſenſleſs indifferency, p. 63our lively ſight of the world inviſible, by a ſerious faith, would preſently awake us, and force us confidently to conclude, AƲT SANCTƲS AƲT BRƲTƲS: There is practically and predominantly no Mean. He'l prove a BRƲIT that is not a SAINT.

CHAP. III.

HAving done with this general conviction and exhortation to unbelieving Hypocrites, I proceed to acquaint Believers with their Duty, in ſeveral particulars.

1. Worſhip God as Believers; ſerve him with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a conſuming fire, Heb. 12.28, 29. A ſeeing faith, if well excited, would kindle love, deſire, fear, and all praying graces. No man prayes well, that doth not well know what he prayes for. When it comes to ſeeing, all men can cry loud, and pray when praying will do no good. They will not then ſpeak ſleepily, or by rote, Fides intuendo, amorem recipit, amorem ſuſ…tat: Cor flagrans amore deſideria, gemitus, orationes ſpirat. Faith is the burning-glaſs which beholding God, receiveth the beams of his communicated love, and inflameth the heart with love to him again; which mounteth up by groans and prayers, till it reach its original, and love for ever reſt in love.

2. Deſire and uſe the creature as Believers. Interpret all things as they receive their meaning, from the things unſeen: underſtand them in no other ſenſe. It's only God and the life to come that can tell you what's good or bad for you in the world. And therefore the ungodly that cannot go to Heaven for counſel, are carryed about by meer deceits. Take heed what you love: and take heed of that you love. God is very jealous of our love: He ſheds abroad his own love in our hearts, that our hearts may be fruitful in love to him, which is his chief delight. By love he commandeth love; that we may ſuitably move toward him, and center in him. He communicateth ſo much for the procuring of a little, that we ſhould endeavour to give him all that little, and ſhed none of it inordinately upon the creature by the way. Nothing is great, or p. 64greatly to be admired, while the great God is in ſight. And it is unſuitable for little things, to have great affections; and for low matters to have a high eſteem. It is the corruption and folly of the mind, and the deluſion of the affections to exalt a Shrub above a Cedar, and magnifie a Mole-hill above a Mountain; to embrace a ſhadow or ſpectrum of felicity, which vaniſheth into Nothing, when you bring in the light. The creature is nihil & nullipotens: Nothing ſhould have no intereſt in us, and be able to do Nothing with us (as to the motions that are under the dominion of the will.) God is All and Almighty: And he that is All, ſhould have All, and command All: And the Omnipotent ſhould do All things with us, by his Intereſt in Morals; as he will do by his force in Naturals. I deny not but we may love a friend: One ſoul in two bodies will have one mind, and will, and love. But as it is not the body of my friend, that I love or converſe with principally, but the ſoul; (and therefore ſhould have no mind of the caſe, the corps, the empty neſt, if the bird were flown) ſo is it not the perſon, but Chriſt in him, or that of God which appeareth on him, that muſt be the principal object of our love. The man is mutable, and muſt be loved, as Plato did commend his friend to Dionyſius: Haec tibi ſcribo de homine, viz. animante naturâ mutabili: and therefore muſt be loved with a reſerve. But God is unchangeable, and muſt be abſolutely and unchangeably loved. That life is beſt that's likeſt Heaven: There God will be All; and yet even there, it will be no diſhonour or diſpleaſure to the Deity, that the glorified humanity of Chriſt, and the New Jeruſalem, and our holy ſociety, are loved more dearly than we can love any creature here on earth: So here, God taketh not that affection as ſtoln from him, that's given to his ſervants for his ſake, but accepts it as ſent to him by them. Let the creature have it, ſo God have it finally in and by the creature; and then it is not ſo properly the creature that hath it, as God. If you chuſe, and love your friends for God, you will uſe them for God: not flattering them, or deſiring to be flattered by them; but to kindle in each other the holy flame which will aſpire and mount, and know no bounds, till it reach the boundleſs element of love. You will not value them as friends, qui omnia dicta & facta veſtra p. 65laudant, ſed qui errata & delicta amice reprehendunt: Not them that call you good; but them that would make you better. And you will let them know, as Phocian did Antipater, that they can never uſe you, & amici… & adulatoribus; as friends and flatterers; that differ as a wife and a harlot.

It's hard to love the imperfect creature, without miſtakes, and inordinacy in our love: And therefore uſually where we love moſt, we ſin moſt; and our ſin finds us out; and then we ſuffer moſt: and too much affection is the forerunner of much affliction; which will be much prevented, if Faith might be the guide of Love, and Humane Love might be made Divine; and all to be referred to the things unſeen, and animated by them. Love where you can never love too much; where you are ſure to have no diſappointments; where there is no unkindneſs to ecclipſe or interrupt; where the only errour is, that God hath not all; and the only grief, that we love no more.

Eſpecially in the midſt of your entiſing pleaſures, or entiſing employments and profits in the world, foreſee the end; do all in Faith, which telleth you, [The time is ſhort; it remaineth therefore, that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoyce, as though they rejoyced not; and they that buy, as though they poſſeſſed not; and they that uſe this world, as through they uſed it not (or not abuſing it:) for the faſhion of this world paſſeth away, 1 Cor. 7.29, 30.

3. Imploy your time as becomes Believers. Faith only can acquaint you, what an unconceivable weight doth lye upon this inch of haſty time. As you behave your ſelves for a few daies, it muſt go with you in joy or miſery for ever: You have your appointed time, for your appointed work. God hath turned the glaſs upon you; much of it is run out already. No price can call back one hour that you have loſt. No power or policy can retard its courſe; Sic fugiunt fraeno non remorante dies. When it comes to the laſt ſand, and time is gone, you'l know the worth of it: You'l then confeſs it ſhould have ſeemed more precious in your eyes, than to have been caſt away upon things of nought. O precious time! more worth than all the riches of the world! How highly is p. 66it valued by all at laſt? And how baſely is it eſteemed new by the moſt? Now it is no more worth with them, than to be ſold for unneceſſary ſports, and eaſe, and waſted in idleneſs and vain delights: But then; when it's gone, and all's too late, how loud would they cry, if cryes could call back Time again! O then what a mercy would it ſeem, if God would try them once again! and truſt them but with another life, or with Hezekiah's fifteen years! or but with fifteen daies, or hours, upon ſuch terms of grace, as they held that life which they abuſed! It amazeth me to obſerve the lamentable ſtupidity of the world, how hard they beg for time when they think it is near an end! and how careleſly they let it ſlide away, when they have ſtrength and faculties to improve it! They are grievouſly afraid leſt death deprive them of it; and yet they are not afraid to deprive themſelves of the uſe and fruit of it, and to caſt it away as contemptuouſly, as if it were an uſeleſs thing. I ſeldom come near a dying man, but I hear him complain of the loſs of Time, and wiſh it were to ſpend again, that it might be better valued and uſed. And yet the living will not be warned. O value Time, as wiſe men, while you have it; and not as miſerable fools, when it is gone! If our Lord ſaid, I muſt do the work of him that ſent me while it is day; for the night cometh when no man can work, Joh. 9.4. What need then have ſuch as we to be doing, and make much of time? O let not company, mirth or buſineſs, make you forget the work of Time! Can you play, or loiter away your hours, with Eternity in your eye? Get the Sun to ſtand ſtill, and Time to make a truce with you, and to waſte no more of the oyl of life, before you loſe another hour.

O what heads, what hearts have all thoſe men, that ſtanding againſt the verge of an endleſs world, can think they have any time to ſpare! Hath God given you too much? If not, why do you loſe it? If he hath, why are you loth that he ſhould ſhorten it? You would not throw away your gold, as contemptuouſly as you do your time; when an hours time is more valuable than gold. Frown on that company that would rob you of half an hours time. Tell them you have ſomething elſe to do, than to feaſt, or play, or talk away your time unneceſſarily. O tell them you were not made for p. 67nothing. You are in a race, and muſt not ſtand ſtill: You are in a fight, and muſt not ceaſe. Your work is great; much of it is undone. Your enemies are not idle: Death will not ſtop: the Judge is coming, and ſtill beholds you: and Heaven or Hell are ready to receive our ending life, and tell us how we ſpent our time: And can you find time to ſpare? You are not made as Weather-cocks, to ſtand up on high for men to look at, and by turning about with every wind, to ſhew them which way it ſtandeth. Turn not your lives into that curſe, Levit. 26.20. [You ſhall ſpend your ſtrength in vain.] Believe it, Time muſt be reviewed. The day is near, when every man of you had rather find it in your accounts, [ſo many hours ſpent in ſelf-examination, and holy meditation; ſo many in reading the Word of God; ſo many ſpent in fervent prayer; and ſo many in doing good to others] than [ſo many ſpent in needleſs ſports and pleaſures; ſo many in idleneſs and vain diſcourſes; and ſo many in the leſs neceſſary matters of the world.] Ask thoſe that tempt you to miſ-ſpend your time, whether at death and Judgement they had rather themſelves have a life of holy diligence to review, or a life conſumed in vanity, and tranſitory delights.

You will not ſuffer impertinencies to interrupt your counſels, and ſerious buſineſs in the world: You'l tell intruders, that you are buſie, and cannot have while to attend them. And are you going into Heaven or Hell, and have but a few daies time of preparation (God knows …) and yet can you have while to paſs this precious … vain? O what would you not give ere long for one of the hours that you now miſ-ſpend? When the oath is performed, Rev. 10.6. [That Time ſhall be no longer.] Wonderful! that men can find Time for any thing, ſave that for which they had their time! Non tam bene vivant, ſed quamdiu confiderant (inquit Seneca) cum omnibus p…ſſit contingere ut bene vivant; ut diu nulli.] To live well is both poſſible and neceſſary, and yet is diſregarded: To live long, is neither poſſible, nor neceſſary; and yet is ſought by almoſt all. Incipiunt vivere cum definendum eſt: immo quidam ante deſierunt vivere, quam inciperent. Sen. It's unſeaſonable we ſhould begin to live, when we ſhould make an end: but it's moſt unhappy to have made an end, before they do p. 68begin: Pulchrum eſt (inquit idem) conſummare vitam ante mortem; & expectare ſecure reliquam temporis partem.] Do the great work, and then you may comfortably ſpend the reſt in waiting for the concluſion. Yet you have time, and leave, and helps: you may read, and meditate, and pray, if you will: but ſhortly Time will be no more. O let not Satan inſult over your carkaſſes and tormented ſouls, and ſay, [Now it is too late! Now murmure and repent as long as you will! Now pray, and cry, and ſpare no…!] O uſe that Faith which beholdeth the inviſible world, and maketh future things as preſent, and then delay and loiter if you can: Then waſte your hours in idleneſs or vanity if you dare! either light or fire ſhall awake you.

4. Suffer as Believers. Fear not the wrath of man; but indure as ſeeing him that is inviſible, Heb. 11.27. ſhew plainly, that you ſeek a better Country, verſ. 14, 16. Read often, Heb. 11, and 12 chapters, Behold the Kingdom prepared and ſecured for you by Chriſt, and then you will be indifferent which way the wind of humane favour or applauſe ſhall fit; or what weather Lunatick influences and aſpects ſhall produce. Such a Faith will make you with Abraham, to turn your back on all, and engage in Pilgrimage for an inheritance after to be received; though he knew not whither he went, (with a diſtinct particular knowledge) Heb. 11.8. As ſtrangers and travellers, you will not be troubled to leave towns and fields, buildings and …alth, and walks behind you, as knowing that you were … …aſs by them, deſiring and ſeeking a better, that is, an heavenly: And you ſhall loſe nothing by this paſſing by all in the world: For God will not be aſhamed to be called your God; and he hath prepared for you a City, Heb. 11.13, 16. Seriouſly reſpect the recompence of reward, and it will make you chuſe rather to ſuffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleaſures of ſin for a ſeaſon; eſteeming the reproach of Chriſt greater riches, than the treaſures of the world, v. 25, 26. Stephen's ſight would cauſe Stephen's patience. Hold on as Chriſtians; the end is near: Let us run with patience the race that is ſet before us; looking to Jeſus the Author and Finiſher of our Faith; who for the Joy that was ſet before him, endured the Croſs, deſpiſing the ſhame, and is ſet down at the right hand p. 69of the Throne of God: Conſider him that endured ſuch contradiction of ſinners againſt himſelf, leſt ye be wearied, and faint in your minds, Heb. 12.2, 3.

You may well endure the buffeting, and ſcorn, if you foreſee the honour. You may well endure the Crown of Thorns, if you foreſee the Crown of Glory: You may endure to be forſaken of all, if you ſee him that will never fail you, nor forſake you: This foretaſte of the Rivers of pleaſure with the Lord, will drown the taſte of the Vinegar and Gall. Whine not like worldlings that have loſt their portion, when you are ſtript as bare as Job. If you are true Believers, you have All ſtill, for God is All: You have loſt Nothing; for Faith hath made the world as Nothing to you: And will you whine and vex your ſelf for Nothing? Can you call it Nothing ſo frequently and eaſily in your prayers, and ordinary ſpeech; and do you now recall this; or tell us by your ſerious grief, that you ſpeak but in hypocriſie and jeaſt. [Frangitur nemo moleſtiâ adverſorum, qui non capitur delectatione proſperorum. Auguſt. Had there been leſs Idolatrous Love, there would have been leſs tormenting grief and care. Our life conſiſteth not in the abundance of the things that we poſſeſs. He is not happy that hath them, but he that neither needeth nor deſireth them. [Cum in his quae homines eripiunt, optant, cuſtodiunt, nihil inveneris, non dico quod malis, ſed quod velis. Sen.] Superfluity doth but burden and break down: The Corn that's too rank lodgeth; and the branches break that are overladen with fruit. [Omnia quae ſuperfluunt nocent: ſegetem nimia ſternit ub…tas: rami onere franguntur ad maturitatem non pervenit faecunditas: Idem quoque animis evenit, quos immoderata proſperitas rumpit; quia non tantum in aliorum injuriam, ſed etiam in ſuam utuntur. Sen.] It's pleaſure, and not pain, that is the worlds moſt deadly ſting: It hath never ſo much hurt us, as when it hath flattered us into delights or hopes. [Et fera & piſcis ſpe aliqua oblectante decipitur. Sen.] Hope is the bait; proſperity and pleaſure the net, that ſouls are ordinarily enſnared by. Men loſe not their ſouls for poverty, but for riches; nor for diſhonour, but for honour; nor for ſorrow, but for delight.

[Luxuriant animi rebus plerumque ſecundis.]

p. 70The luxuriances of proſperity, bring us ſo frequently under the pruning hook. The ſurfeits and ſummer fruits of fulneſs and carnal contentments and delights, do put us to the trouble of our ſickneſſes and our Phyſick. [How hardly ſhall rich men enter into Heaven?] ſaith he that well knew who ſhould enter. Saith A…guſtine [Difficile, immo impoſſibile eſt, ut praeſentibus & futuris quis fruatur bonis; ut hic ventrem, & ibi mentem implea…: ut à deliciu ad delicias tranſeat; & in utroque ſeculo primus ſ…t▪ ut in terrâ & in coelo appareat glorioſus?] The hope is, that [with God ſuch humane impoſſibilities are poſſible] But it's more terrible, than deſirable to be put upon ſo great a difficulty. Sweet diſhes will have waſp… and flies; but moſt of them are drowned in their delights. Saith Boetius of Proſperity and Adverſity; I…a fallit, haec inſtruit: illa mendacium ſpecie bonorum mentes fruentium ligat: haec cogitatione fragilis faelicitatis abſolvit: Itaque illam videas ventroſam fluentem, ſuique ſemper ignaram: hanc ſobriam, ſuccinctamque ac ipſius adverſitatis exercitatione prudentem. A full meal ſeems beſt in the eating; but a light meal is better the next day. More thank God in Heaven for adverſity, than for proſperity: And more in Hell cry out of the fruit of proſperity, than of adverſity. Many did never look towards Heaven, till affliction caſt them on their backs, ſo that they could look no other way. [It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy ſtatutes] ſaith David, Pſal. 119.71. [Before I was afflicted, I went aſtray.] v. 67. [In very faithfulneſs thou haſt afflicted me] v. 75. One ſight of Heaven by faith will force you to reckon that the ſufferings of this preſent time are unworthy to be compared with the glory which ſhall be revealed in us] Rom. 8.18. To ſuffer for Chriſt and righteouſneſs ſake, is but to turn an unavoidable fruitleſs pain, into that which being voluntary, is the more eaſie, and hath a great reward in Heaven, Matth. 5.11, 12. And to part with that for a Crown of Life, which elſe we muſt part with for nothing. Worldly friends, and wealth, and honour, are ſummer fruit, that will quickly fall. Hungry fowl know where it's harveſt [At ſimul intonuit fugiunt: Thoſe that muſt dwell with you in Heaven, are your ſure and ſtedfaſt friends [Caetera fortunae, &c.] Thoſe that are now higheſt, and leaſt acquainted with the tongue p. 71of malice, the unfaithfulneſs of friends, or rage of enemies, ſhall ſhortly ſay,

[Atque haec exempli… quondam collecta priorum:

Nunc mihi ſunt propriis, cognita vera malis.]

There is but the difference of an Eſt and an Erit, between their mirth and endleſs ſorrows: Their honour, and their endleſs ſhame; nor between our ſorrow and our endleſs joy. Their final honour is to be embalmed, and their duſt to be covered with a ſumptuous monument, and their names extolled by the mouths of men, that little know how poor a comfort all this is to the miſerable ſoul. In the height of their honour you may foreſee the Chyrurgion opening their bowels, and ſhewing the receptacles of the treaſure of the Epicure, and what remains of the price that he received for his betrayed ſoul. He cuts out the heart with a [Hae ſedes livoris erant: jam paſcua vermis] you next tread on his interred corps, that's honoured but with a [Hic jacet] [Here lyeth the body of ſuch a one] And if he have the honour to be magnified by fame or hiſtory, it's a fool-trap to enſnare the living, but eaſeth not the ſoul in Hell. And ſhall we envy men ſuch a happineſs as this? what if they be able to command mens lives, and to hurt thoſe that they hate for a little while? Is this a matter of honour or of delight? A Peſtilence is more honourable, if deſtroying be an honour. The Devil is more powerful (if God permit him) to do men hurt, than the greateſt Tyrant in the world: And yet I hope you envy not his happineſs, nor are ambitious to partake of it. If Witches were not kin to Devils, they would never ſell their ſouls for a power to do hurt: And how little do tyrannical worldlings conſider, that under a mask of Government and Honour, they do the ſame?

Let the world then rejoyce while we lament and weep: Our ſorrow ſhall be ſpeedily turned into joy; and our joy ſhall no man …hen take from us, Joh. 16.20, 22. Envy not a dying man …he happineſs of a feather-bed, or a merry dream. You think …t hard in them to deny you the liberties and comforts of this …fe, though you look for Heaven: And will you be more p. 72cruel than the ungodly? Will you envy the trifling commodities or delights of earth, to thoſe that are like to have no more, but to lye in Hell when the ſport is ended? It is unreaſonable impatience that cannot endure to ſee them in ſilks and gallantry a few daies, that muſt be ſo extreamly miſerable for ever. Your crums, and leavings, and overplus is their All. And will you grudge them this much? In this you are unlike your heavenly Father, that doth good to the juſt and unjuſt: would you change caſes with them? would you change the fruit of your adverſity, for the fruit of their proſperity.

Affliction maketh you ſomewhat more calm, and wiſe, and ſober, and cautelous, and conſiderate, and preventeth as well as cureth ſin. Proſperity makes them (through their abuſe) inconſiderate, raſh, inſenſible, fooliſh, proud, unperſwadable. And the turning away of the ſimple ſlayeth them, and the proſperity of fools deſtroyeth them, Prov. 1.32. It's long ſince Lazarus's ſores were healed, and his wants relieved; and long ſince Dives feaſt was ended. O let me rather be afflicted, than rejected; and be a door-keeper in the houſe of God, than dwell in the tents of wickedneſs: and rather be under the rod, than turned out of doors. Look with a ſerious Faith upon Eternity, and then make a great matter of enjoyments or ſufferings here if you can. Great joyes and ſorrows forbid men to complain of the biting of a Flea. Thunder-claps drown a whiſpering voice.

O what unbelief our impatiency and diſquietneſs in ſufferings do diſcover! Is this living by faith? and converſing in another world? and taking God for All, and the world for Nothing? What! make ſuch a do of p…verty, impriſonment, injuries, diſgrace, with Heaven and Hell before our eyes? The Lord vouchſafe me that condition, in which I ſhall be neareſt to himſelf, and have moſt communion with Heaven; be it what it will be for the things of earth. Theſe are the deſires to which I'le ſtand.

To thank God for the fruit of paſt afflictions, as the moſt neceſſary mercies of our lives (as ſome of us have daily cauſe) and at the ſame time to be impatient under preſent afflictions, or inordinately afraid of thoſe to come, is an irrational as well as unbelieving incongruity.

p. 73Are we derided, ſlandered, abuſed by the ungodly? If we repine that we have enemies and muſt fight; we repine that we are Chriſts ſouldires, and that is, that we are Chriſtians. [Quomodo poteſt imperator militum ſuorum virtutem probare, niſi habuerit hoſtem] ſaith Lactantius. Enemies of God do not uſe to fight profeſſedly againſt himſelf, but againſt his ſouldiers [Non qui contra ipſum Deum pugnent, ſed contra milites ejus inquit idem] If the remnants of goodneſs had not been a deriſion among the Heathens themſelves, in the more ſober ſort, a Heathen would not have ſaid, [Nondum faelix es, ſi non te turba deriferit: ſi beatus vis eſſe, cogita hoc primum contemnere, & ab aliis contemni. Sen.] Thou art not yet happy, if the rabble deride thee not: If thou wilt be bleſſed, learn firſt to contemn this, and to be contemned of others.] No body will deride or perſecute us in Heaven.

5. Improve your talents and opportunities in your callings as Believers; eſpecially you that are Governours. God is the original and end of Government. The higheſt are but his miniſters, Rom. 13.6. This world is but the way unto another. Things ſeen are for things unſeen: And Government is to order them to that end: Eſpecially by terrifying evil doers, and by promoting holineſs in the earth. The Moral as well as the Natural motion of inferiour agents, muſt proceed from the influence of the ſuperiour. The ſpring and the end of every action truly good, are out of fight. Where theſe are not diſcerned, or are ignorantly or maliciouſly oppoſed, the action is vitiated, and tendeth to confuſion and ruine. God is the end of all holy actions; and carnal ſelf is the end of ſin. If God and ſelf are infinitely diſtinct; you may eaſily ſee that the actions material…y the ſame, that are intended to ſuch diſtant ends, muſt needs be very diſtant. Nothing but ſaving Faith and Holineſs can conquer ſelfiſhneſs in the loweſt of the people. But where the fleſh hath more plentiful proviſion, and ſelf is accommodated with the fulleſt contents of honour and pleaſure that the world affords, how difficult a work then is ſelf-denyal! And the reign of the fleſh is contrary to the reign of Chriſt. Where the fleſh and viſible things bear ſway, the enemy of Chriſt bears ſway. The carnal mind is enmity againſt God; for it is not ſubject to his Law, nor can be, Rom. 8.7. And how p. 74Chriſts enemies will receive his Laws, and uſe his Meſſengers, and regard his waies and ſervants, the moſt of the world have experience to their coſt. The intereſt of the fleſh, being contrary to Chriſts intereſt, the competition maintaineth a continual conflict. The Word of God doth ſeem to be againſt them: The faithful Miniſters that would ſave them from their ſins, do ſeem to wrong them, and deal too boldly with them. Were it an Elijah, he would be called, The troubler of Iſrael; and met with an [Haſt thou found me O mine enemy] No meaſure of prudence, knowledge, piety, innocency, meekneſs or ſelf-denyal, will ſerve to appeaſe the wrath and diſpleaſure of this carnal enmity. If it would, the Apoſtles had eſcaped it: or at leaſt it would not have fallen ſo furiouſly upon Chriſt h…mſelf. Nay, theſe are the oyl that increaſe the flame. And Satan hath ſtill the bellows in his hand: He knoweth that if he can corrupt or win the Commander, he can rout the Army, and ruine them with the greateſt eaſe. It hath been Satans grand deſign, ſince the Chriſtian name was known on earth, to advance the ſelfiſh intereſt of men againſt the intereſt of Chriſt; and to entangle the Rulers of the world in ſome cauſe, that Chriſt, and his Word, and Servants cannot favour, and ſo to make them believe that there is a neceſſity on them to watch againſt, and ſubdue the intereſt of Chriſt. As if it were neceſſary that the ſhore be brought to the boat, and not the boat to the ſhore: And that the Phyſician be brought to the Patients mind, or elſe deſtroyed or uſed as his enemy. I am afraid to ſpeak out the terrible words of God in Scripture, that are againſt ſuch perſons, leſt you ſhould miſunderſtand me, and think I miſapply them. But Chriſt feareth no man, and hath not ſpoken his Word in vain; and his Meſſengers muſt be faithful; for he will bear them out; and preventive cautions are eaſier and ſafer than reprehenſive corraſives. I will but refer you to the texts, that you may peruſe them, Matth. 21.44. Matth. 18.3.6. Matth. 25.40, 45. Luke 18.7. Pſal. 2. Luke 19.27. Acts 9.4, 5. 1 Theſſ. 2.15, 16. Read them with fear as the Words of God. Bleſſed are thoſe Rulers and Nations of the Earth, that perceive and eſcape this pernicious ſnare of the grand deceiver; that with all his ſubtilty and induſtry, endeavoureth to breed quarrels, and ſow diſſentions between them and the univerſal King.

p. 75The more God giveth to the carnal and unwiſe, the more they think themſelves engaged againſt him; becauſe by his commands he ſeems to take it from them again, by croſſing the fleſh, which would uſe it only to fulfil its luſts. Like a Dog that fawneth on you till he have his bone; and then ſnarleth at you, leſt you take it from him; and will fly in your face if you offer to meddle with it. Men readily confeſs that they have their wealth from God; becauſe it cannot be denyed, and becauſe they would uſe the name of God, as a cover to hide their covetouſneſs, and unlawful waies of getting: But if you judge by their uſage of it, and their returns to God; you would think that they believed, that they had nothing at all from God, but ſome injuries; and that all their benefits and good were from themſelves. The Turkiſh and Tartarian Emperour will ſay, that all his grandeur and power is from God; that by making it moſt Divine, he may procure the more reverence and obedience to himſelf: But when he hath ſaid ſo for his own intereſt, he uſeth the ſame power againſt God and his intereſt; to the baniſhing of his Word and holy Worſhip, and the forbidding the preaching of the Goſpel of ſalvation; and to the cheriſhing of tyranny, pride and luſt: As if God had armed them againſt himſelf, and made his Officers to be his enemies; and gave them power that they might powerfully hinder mens ſalvation, and made great, to be great oppreſſors.

As a believing Paſtor is a Prieſt that ſtandeth between God and the people, to mediate under the great Mediatour; to receive from God his Word and Ordinances, and deliver them to the flocks; and to offer up ſupplications in their names to God: So believing Governours of civil Societies or Families, receive from God a power to rule the ſubjects for their good, and they uſe it to make the ſubjects good, that God may be pleaſed and honoured by all! And the obedience which they require, is ſuch as may be given to God in them. They take power from God to uſe it for God, and are ſo much more excellent than the greateſt of ambitious carnal Princes, as the pleaſing and honouring of God, is a more excellent deſign and work, than the gratifying of fleſhly luſt, and the advancement of a lump of clay. The Kingdoms of the world would all be p. 76uſed as the Kingdoms of the Lord, if the everlaſting Kingdom were well believed. The families of men would be ſanctified as Churches unto God, if the eternal houſe not made with hands, were truly taken for their home, and their trade were to lay up a treaſure in Heaven. In Cities and Countries Brethren would dwell in holy peace, and all concur in honouring God, if once they were made fellow Citizens with the Saints, and their Burgeſhip and converſation were in Heaven, Epheſ. 2.19. Phil. 3.20, 21.

6. Reſiſt Temptations as Believers. If you live by Faith, then fight againſt the world and fleſh by Faith. Faith muſt be your helmet, and the Word of Faith muſt be your ſhield, Eph. 6.16. And your victory it ſelf muſt be by Faith, 1 Joh. 5.4. If Satan tell the fleſh of the preferment, riches, or the pleaſures of luſt, anſwer him with a believing foreſight of Gods Judgement, and the life to come. Never look on the baits of ſin alone, but ſtill look at once on God and on Eternity: As a juſt Judge will hear both parties ſpeak, or ſee their evidences before he will determine: So tell the Tempter, that as you have heard what fleſhly allurements can ſay, you will ſee alſo what the Word of God ſaith, and take a view of Heaven and Hell, and then you will anſwer him.

7. Rejoyce as Believers. Can Faith ſet open the windows of the ſoul, and no light of heavenly pleaſures enter? Can it peruſe the Map of the Land of Promiſe, or ſee and taſte the bunch of Grapes, without any ſweetneſs to the ſoul? That is the trueſt Belief of Heaven, which maketh men likeſt thoſe that are in Heaven: And what is their character, work and portion, but the Joyes of Heavenly Light and Love! Can we believe that we ſhall live in Heaven for ever? Can we believe that very ſhortly we ſhall be there? and not rejoyce in ſuch believing? I know we commonly ſay, that the uncertainty of our proper title, is the cauſe of all our want of joy: But if that were all, if that were the firſt and greateſt cauſe, and our belief of the promiſe it ſelf were lively; we ſhould at leaſt ſet our hearts on Heaven as the moſt delightful and deſirable ſtate: and Love would work by more eager deſires, and diligent ſeekings, till it had reacht aſſurance, and caſt out the hinderances of our joy. How much would a meer Philoſopher rejoyce, if p. 77he could find out natural evidence, of ſo much as we know by Faith? You may perceive what their content in finding it, would be, by their exc…eding pains in ſeeking. The unwearied ſtudies by day and night, which many of them uſed, with the contempt of the riches and greatneſs of the world, do tell us how glad they would have been, to have ſeen but half ſo far as we may. If they could but diſcover more clearly and certainly, the principles, and elements, and forms of Beings; the nature of ſpirits; the cauſes of motion; the nature and cauſe of light and heat; the order, courſe and harmony of the univerſal ſyſteme of the world; what joyful acclamations would this produce, in the literal ſtudious ſort of men! what joy then ſhould it be to us, to know by Faith the God that made us; the Creation of the world, the Laws and Promiſes of our Creatour, the Myſteries of Redemption and Regeneration; the frame of the new Creature, the entertainment of the ſpirits of the juſt with Chriſt, the Judgement which all the world muſt undergo, the work and company which we ſhall have hereafter, and the endleſs joyes which all the ſanctified ſhall poſſeſs in the ſight and Love of God for ever? How bleſſed an invention would it be, if all the world could be brought again to the uſe of one univerſal language? Or if all the Churches could be perfectly reconciled, how joyful would the Author of ſo great a work be? ſhould we not then rejoyce who foreſee by Faith, a far more perfect union and conſent, than ever muſt be expected here on earth.

Alas, the ordinary lowneſs of our Comforts doth tell us, that our Faith is very ſmall! I ſay not ſo much [The ſorrows of a doubting heart] as the little joy which we have in the fore-thoughts of Heaven, when our title ſeemeth not much doubtful to us: For thoſe ſorrows ſhew, that ſuch eſteem it a joyful place, and would rejoyce if their title were but cleared: But when we have neither the ſorrow or ſolicitouſneſs of the afflicted ſoul, nor yet the joy which is any whit ſuitable to the belief of ſuch everlaſting joyes, we may know what to judge of ſuch an uneffectual belief; at beſt, it is very low and feeble. It is a joy unſpeakable, and full of glory, which unſeen things ſhould cauſe in a Believer, 1 Pet. 1.6, 7, 8. Becauſe it is an exceeding eternal weight of glory, which he believeth, 2 Cor. … 17, 18.

p. 788. Finally, Learn to Die alſo as Believers. The life of Faith muſt bring you to the very entrance into glory: where one doth end, the other begins. As our dark life in the womb by nutriment from the Mother, continueth till our paſſage into the open world. You would die in the womb, if Faith ſhould ceaſe, before it bring you to full intuition and fruition, Heb. 11.22. By faith Joſeph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Iſrael. Joſephs faith did not die before him, Heb. 11.3. Theſe all died in faith, confeſſing that they were ſtrangers and pilgrims on the earth, and declaring that they ſought a better Country. They that live by faith, muſt die in faith; yea and die by faith too. Faith muſt fetch in their dying comforts. And O how full, and how near a treaſure hath it to go to? To die to this world, is to be born into another. Beggars are beſt when they are abroad. The travail of the ungodly is better to them than their home. But the Believers home is ſo much better than his travail, that he hath little cauſe to be afraid of coming to his Journeys end; but ſhould rather every ſtep cry out, O when ſhall I be at home with Chriſt! Is it Earth or Heaven that you have prayed for, and laboured for, and waited, and ſuffered for till now? And doth he indeed pray, and labour, and ſuffer for Heaven, who would not come thither?

It is Faith which overcometh the world and the fleſh, which muſt alſo overcome the fears of death; and can look with boldneſs into the loathſome grave, and can triumph over both as victorious through Chriſt. It is Faith which can ſay, [Go forth O my ſoul; depart in peace: Thy courſe is finiſhed: Thy warfare is accompliſhed: The day of triumph is now at hand: Thy patience hath no longer work: Go forth with joy: The morning of thy endleſs joyes is near; and the night of fears and darkneſs at an end. Thy terrible dreams are ending in eternal pleaſures: The glorious light will baniſh all thy dreadful ſpecters, and reſolve all thoſe doubts which were bred and cheriſhed in the dark: They whoſe employment is their wearineſs and toil, do take the night of darkneſs and ceſſation for their reſt: But this is thy wearineſs: Defect of action is thy toil; and thy moſt grievous labour is to do too little work▪ And thy unceſſant p. 79Viſion, Love and Praiſe, will be thy unceſſant eaſe and pleaſure; and thy endleſs work, will be thy endleſs reſt! Depart, O my ſoul, with peace and gladneſs! Thou leaveſt not a world, where Wiſdom and Piety, Juſtice and Sobriety, Love, and Peace, and Order, do prevail; but a world of ignorance and folly; of bruitiſh ſenſuality and rage; of impiety and malignant enmity to good; a world of injuſtice and oppreſſion; and of confuſion and diſtracting ſtrifes! Thou goeſt not to a world of darkneſs, and of wrath; but of Light and Love! From helliſh malice, to perfect amity; from Bedlam rage, to perfect wiſdom; from mad confuſion, to perfect order; to ſweeteſt unity and peace; even to the ſpirits of the juſt made perfect, and to the celeſtial glorious City of God! Thou goeſt not from Heaven to Earth, from holineſs to ſin, from the ſight of God, into an infernal dungeon; but from Earth to Heaven; from ſin and imperfection unto perfect holineſs; and from palpable darkneſs, into the vital ſplendour of the face of God! Thou goeſt not amongſt enemies, but to deareſt friends; nor amongſt meer ſtrangers, but to many whom thou haſt known by ſight, and to more whom thou haſt known by faith, and muſt know by the ſweeteſt communion for ever. Thou goeſt not to unſatisfied Juſtice, nor to a condemning unreconciled God; but to Love it ſelf; to infinite Goodneſs; the fountain of all created and communicated good; to the Maker, Redeemer and Sanctifier of ſouls; to him who prepared Heaven for thee, and now hath prepared thee for Heaven! Go forth then in triumph, and not with terrour, O my ſoul! The prize is won: Poſſeſs the things which thou haſt ſo long prayed for, and ſought! Make haſte and enter into thy Maſters joy! Go view the glory which thou haſt ſo long heard of; and take thy place in the heavenly Chore; and bear thy part in their celeſtial melody! Sit down with Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God! And receive that which Chriſt in his Covenant did promiſe to give thee at the laſt. Go boldly to that bleſſed God, with whom thou haſt ſo powerful a Mediatour; and to the Throne of whoſe grace, thou haſt had ſo oft and ſweet acceſs. If Heaven be thy fear or ſorrow, what can p. 80be thy joy? and where wilt thou have refuge, if thou fly from God? If perfect endleſs pleaſures be thy terrour, where then doſt thou expect content! If grace have taught thee long ago, to prefer the heavenly and durable felicity; refuſe it not now when thou art ſo near the port! if it have taught thee long ago, to be as a ſtranger in this Sodom, and to renounce this ſinful world and fleſh; linger not now as unwilling to depart; repent not of thy choice, when all that the world can do for thee is paſt, repent not of thy warfare, when thou haſt got the victory; nor of thy voyage, when thou art paſt the ſtorms and waves, and ready to land at the haven of felicity.

Thus Faith may ſing our Nunc dimittis, when the fleſh is lotheſt to be diſſolved.

But we muſt live by faith, if we would thus die by faith. Such a death doth not uſe to be the period of a fleſhly worldly life; nor of a careleſs, dull and negligent life. Nature, which brought us into the world, without our forecaſt or care, will turn us out of the world without it: But it will not give us a joyful paſſage, nor bring us to a better world without it. It coſteth worldlings no ſmall care to die in an honourable or plentiful eſtate, (that they may fall from an higher place than others, and may have ſomething to make death more grievous and unwelcome to them, and may have a greater account to make at Judgement; and that their paſſage to Heaven may be as a Camels through a Needle.) And may a believing joyful death be expected, without the preparations of exerciſe and experience in a believing life? Nature is ſo much afraid of dying, and an incorporated ſoul is ſo incarcerated in ſenſe, and ſo hardly riſeth to ſerious and ſatisfying apprehenſions of the unſeen world, that even true Believers, do find it a work of no ſmall difficulty, to deſire to depart, and be with Chriſt, and to die in the joyful hopes of faith. A little abatement of the terrours of death, a little ſupporting hope and peace, is all that the greater part of them attain, inſtead of the fervent deſires, and triumphant joyes, which the lively belief of endleſs glory ſhould produce. O therefore make it the work of your lives! of all your lives! your greateſt work; your conſtant work, to live by faith; that the faith which hath p. 81firſt conquered all the reſt of your enemies, may be able alſo to overcome the laſt; and may do your laſt work well, when it hath done the reſt.