Two Discourses, Section 3 – Title page
THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN in HELL.
God's WRATH the immediate CAUSE.
SECT. III.
Some
Uſes.
Corollaries.
Meditations.
A COROLLARY.
IF God in his Wrath be the immediate Inflicter of that Puniſhment for Sin, then certainly he is not the Lib. 1. de Praedeſt. ad Monymum circa mediumAuthor of Sin. Fulgentius, among other highly-evincing demonſtrations of it, caſts in this: Iniquitatis cujus eſt Ʋltor, non eſt Autor; God is not the Author of Sin, whereof he is the Avenger. Which Maxim is founded upon an high Principle of Reaſon and Equity. God puts the whole of this matter ſo far off from himſelf, that he lays all, both Sin and Puniſhment, wholly upon Man; ſo as although the Puniſhment it ſelf be from his own juſt Wrath, that is provoked to inflict it, yet even thereof he thus ſpeaks, Do they provoke me to Anger? ('tis true, they do;) but do they not provoke themſelves, to the Confuſion of their own Faces? So as he aſcribes his own Wrath that inflicts that Puniſhment whollly to themſelves, returns even that upon themſelves. As if he had ſaid, I am angry indeed, &c. 'tis true, yet they are more the provoking Cauſes of that Anger than my ſelf. They ſpight but themſelves, when they ſin againſt me. Like unto which is that Speech alſo, Rom. 2. 4, 5. Thou treaſureſt up Wrath unto thy ſelf: [Thou to thy Self] although it be God's Wrath in his Breaſt that is treaſured up, yet the treaſuring of it up is aſeribed unto themſelves.
God will ſend his Son Jeſus Chriſt on purpoſe to clear all ſuch imaginable Suſpicions and Suppoſitions that Men or Devils can caſt upon him, for condemning of Men, or executing this Puniſhment himſelf. Enoch, the ſeventh from Adam, propheſied, ſaying: Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thouſand of his Saints, to execute Judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly Deeds, which they have ungodlily committed, and of all their hard Speeches which ungodly Sinners have ſpoken againſt him. His work at that Day is to convince, (yea, and to convince is named firſt) as well as to execute Judgment. And it is certain, that in order thereto he will ſpeak all Fairneſs, Equity, Juſtice, and Reaſon, ('twere not Conviction elſe); and he will have all his Saints and Angels about him, as Judges and Witneſſes. He will have all the World to hear it; and how equal it is for him to execute ſo ſore a Vengeance. And as he will convince them of their Deeds to be ungodly and deſerving it, ſo of their hard Speeches; and that (whatever his Decrees were,) they themſelves were ungodly, and their Deeds ungodly, and ungodlily committed. Mark but how he doth ungodly them. And he will convince them, and ſtop their Mouths for ever. Chriſt ſent him in the Parable ſpeechleſs to Hell, Mat. 22. 12. And this is one great Service the Man Chriſt Jeſus is to do for God at the latter day: And if he ſhould not do this ſatisfyingly, and clear all theſe things, he muſt ſhut up his Books, and come off the Bench, and proceed no further, either to Sentence or Execution.
A MEDITATION.
LEt our Meditation upon what hath been delivered, be what Moſes hath prompted to us; and let us make the ſame uſe thereof which he alſo did.
The 90th Pſalm was penned by Moſes, (as the Title ſhews, A Prayer of Moſes, the Man of God,) and it was compoſed by him in his latter days, after he had ſeen in forty years, an whole Generation in a Nation of Men removed out of this World, and their Carcaſes fallen in the Wilderneſs; a Spectacle ſo ſad, as perhaps not any one Man in the World hath ſeen, or Age afforded, (but at the Flood) afore or ſince, in ſo ſhort a compaſs of time. His Song is a Funeral Elegy, or Meditation of Death, made upon that whole Generation, verſe 3. Thou turneſt Man to Deſtruction; and ſayeſt, Return, ye Children of Men. And verſes 5, 6. Thou carriest them away, as with a Flood. In the morning they are like Graſs which groweth up; in the morning it flouriſheth and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. And God from that time began alſo to ſtint and limit Man's years to that meaſure which it hath held to unto this day. Verſ. 10. The Days of our years are threeſcore years and ten; and if by reaſon of Strength they be fourſcore years, yet is their Strength Labour and Sorrow; for it is ſoon cut off, and we fly away. Our Souls fly away like Birds when the Shell is broke; and then Hell follows, (as the Revelation ſpeaks) as in reality, ſo in Rev. 6. 8.Moſes's Diſcourſe. And that was it which was the matter of deepeſt and ſaddeſt thoughts in this Meditation unto him of any other. Verſe 11. it follows, Who knoweth the Power of thine Anger? Even according to thy Fear, ſo is thy Wrath.—Which he utters,
1. By way of Lamentation. He ſighing forth a moſt doleful complaint againſt the Security and Stupor he obſerved in that Generation of Men in his times, both in thoſe that had already died in their Sins, as well as of that new Generation that had come up in their room, who ſtill lived in their Sins. O! ſays he, Who of them knoweth the Power of thine Anger? namely, of that Wrath which followeth after Death, and ſeizeth upon Mens Souls for ever; that is, who conſiders it, or regards it, till it take hold upon them? He utters it,
2. In a way of Aſtoniſhment, out of the apprehenſion he had of the greatneſs of that Wrath: Who hath known the Power of thine Anger! that is, who who hath or can take it in according to the greatneſs of it? Which he endeavours to ſet forth (as applying himſelf to our own apprehenſions) in this wiſe, Even according to thy Fear, ſo is thy Wrath. Where thoſe words [thy Fear] are taken objective, and ſo is all one, and the Fear of thee: And ſo the meaning is, that according to whatever proportion our Souls can take in, in fears of thee and of thine Anger; ſo great is thy Wrath it ſelf. You have Souls that are able to comprehend vaſt Fears and Terrors; they are as extenſive in their Fears, as in their Deſires, which are ſtretched, beyond what this World or the Creatures can afford them, to an Infinity. The Soul of Man is a dark Cell, which when it begets Fears once, ſtrange and fearful Apparitions riſe up in it, which far exceed the ordinary proportion of worldly Evils, (which yet alſo our Fears uſually make greater than they prove to be:) But here, as to that Puniſhment, which is the effect of God's own immediate Wrath, let the Soul enlarge it ſelf, ſays he, and widen its apprehenſion to the utmoſt; fear what you can imagine: yet ſtill God's Wrath, and the Puniſhment it inflicts, are not only proportionable, but infinitely exceeding all you can fear or imagine. Who knoweth the Power of thine Anger? [It paſſeth knowledg.]
Now the Uſe Moſes makes of all this Doctrine of Death and Wrath, in the next following verſe 12. is this: So teach us to number our Days, that we may apply our Hearts to VViſdom. This he ſpake to God in behalf of that preſent Generation that then ſurvived; and by ſpreading afore them all theſe Conſiderations, thereby alſo exhorteth them to that which is the only true Wiſdom, even to turn unto the Lord, ſo to eſcape that Wrath that is to come. And he, as an holy Man, that knew the Terror of the Lord, doth thus perſuade Men: And O let our Souls be perſuaded by it. And to this end,
USE.
I Would firſt perſuade you to believe, that there is this Wrath to come. VVe knowing the Terror of the Lord; that is, our ſelves being aſſured by believing, that ſuch a Wrath is in the Heart and Breaſt of God againſt impenitent Sinners, as alſo underſtanding what and how dreadful that Wrath is, we do perſuade Men, 2 Cor. 5. 11. And for Men to apprehend and believe it, is the firſt moſt effectual Engine to perſuade them by. God did not, ere he placed theſe Souls of ours in our Bodies, firſt carry them down to Hell, and then up to Heaven, that ſo we having a fore-knowledg of either by Sight and Senſe, might then be left to act in this World accordingly: But God hath left only the Revelation of both theſe unto Faith, in this World, by the Word.—Heb. 11. 7. 'Tis ſaid, Noah being warned of God of things not ſeen as yet, moved with Fear, prepared an Ark to the ſaving of his Houſe: By the which he condemned the VVorld, and became Heir of the Righteouſneſs which is by Faith.
You know how the Day of this great Wrath to come (the Day of Judgment) is aſſimilated by Chriſt to the Days of Noah, Mat. 24. 37, 38, 39. And that (among other) in reſpect of the Security and Unbelief that is and will be afore it comes, in the Hearts of Men about it, (which is Chriſt's ſpecial ſcope there.) And the place in the Hebrews cited anſwerably, reckoneth that Faith of Noah, (who being forewarned of the Flood, was moved with Fear, and prepared an Ark to ſave himſelf and his Family,) amongſt thoſe other Inſtances of Saving Faith, which that Chapter doth enumerate, as that which had this Wrath to come ſignified thereby in his eye. Shewing withal the Foundation of the Condemnation of that World to lie in this, That though Noah declared this Wrath to come unto them by his Preaching and Example, (for as he was a Preacher of Righteouſneſs, ſo of this Wrath, as Enoch alſo had been,) yet they believed it not, becauſe it was unſeen; as the words of that 7th Verſe are. For theſe things then happened in Types of what was to fall out concerning this great Wrath to come; that Deſtruction of the old World being but the ſhadow of this, as expreſly 'tis interpreted to be, 1 Pet. 3. 20. The Spirits in Priſon, which ſometimes were diſobedient, when once the Long-ſuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was a preparing. The like Figure whereunto is Baptiſm, which now alſo ſaves us. If the Ark was of Salvation, then the Flood of Damnation; and that, then, as the word [alſo] now evidently ſhews. This Wrath, it is a thing to come, as that of the Flood then was to them, ſtiled therefore the Wrath to come; and ſo it is a thing not ſeen, and ſo is reckoned amongſt the Objects of Faith.
Men indeed have ſome leſſer ſtitches in Conſcience afore-hand, both from it and about it, but little do they imagine that theſe will or ſhould ever become the matter of ſuch torturing Aches, as they riſe up to in the end: Men do as little imagine this of theſe fore-running Warnings, or ſecret Gripings and Twitches, as the Old World did then, that the uſual Clouds of Heaven that cauſed Storms, would have ever ſwell'd to the drowning of the World. Nor indeed doth this fall out to Mens Souls, until the Curſe or Wrath of God enters, like Oil into their Bones, as the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks of Judas, Pſal. 109. 18.
For this Wrath is in the mean time a thing hidden in the Breaſt and Boſom of the Almighty, and is therefore termed, a Treaſure of Wrath: A Treaſure, becauſe hid, ſo Treaſures uſe to be; (they are termed hidden Treaſures, Prov. 2. 4. and elſewhere.) And for the ſame reaſon the coming of it upon Men is called the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of Luk. 19. 42.God: As the things belonging to Mens Peace, ſo their Deſtruction, are hidden from their Eyes. Though Damnation ſlumbers not, 2 Pet. 2. 3. but is in its March, and proceedeth in its approaches towards them, every hour nearer and nearer; yet Men ſlumber in reſpect of the belief thereof, and not ſo much as dream of it in their Slumber, 1 Theſſ. 5. 3, 6, 9. The Apoſtle's complaint there, is the ſame in effect with that of Moſes, Who knows the Power of thine Anger, ſo as to apply his Heart to Wiſdom?
The Baptiſt, who began the publiſhing of the Goſpel, he began it with forewarning Men of this Wrath, and ſtiled it, the Wrath to come: And Chriſt, whoſe office was to preach that Goſpel, ſeconds him therein, and terms it Hell-Fire, &c. Now obſerve, how he ſpeaks to the Phariſees about it: O ye Generation of Vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the Wrath to come! Mat. 3. 7. 'Tis Vox admirantis; as if he had ſaid, 'Tis ſtrange, that the Preaching of Wrath to come ſhould any way ſtartle yours ſo hardened Hearts, as to ſee you here attending at my Sermons; and that the Conſideration thereof ſhould any way arreſt, or make any dint upon your Souls. The reaſon of his Wonder was, becauſe indeed Men believe it not, or very ſlightly. Who hath demonſtrated it unto you? as his word is. And Chriſt uſeth the very ſame word about this matter, Luke 12. 5. I will forewarn you, (or demonſtrate to you) whom you ſhall fear, even him that can deſtroy in Hell. All this ſtill tends to ſhew, how hidden it is from the moſt of Men. The very ſame Unbelief is more darkly, and in other terms, expreſſed in the Old Teſtament: Deut. 32. 29. O that they would conſider [their latter end!] And, Eccleſ. 11. 8, 9. Remember the Days of Darkneſs, for they are many: But know thou, that for all theſe things God will bring thee to Judgment.
Now to help you a little in the belief of this:
Beſides what the Scriptures ſpeak hereof:
1. Conſult thine own Heart. Thou haſt a buſy Principle within thee, Conſcience, that like a Spy ſent in from an adverſe Party into anothers Quarters, obſerves and takes notice of all that paſſeth; not thy Actions or Speeches only, but what is done in thy Privy-Chamber, or Cloſet of thy Soul; and not only ſo, but thou mayeſt hear the noiſe of his Pen ſtill a running, and punctually writing that which it obſerveth; and there is not a Motion, a Luſt, a Deſire, a Purpoſe, an End, a flying Thought, but it diligently doth ſet down, and can give thee the Senſe thereof; and thou canſt not ſtop the Courſe hereof. And what is the meaning of all this? but that thy Judgment is continually a preparing, thine Examination a taking all thy Life long. For, where there is a Regiſter, a Clerk of the Aſſize thus buſy at work, there is a Judg, whoſe Officer he is. Be wary therefore what thou doſt, Man! Thou art ſurprized and undone, if thou heedeſt not; for duplicate page duplicate page all this is in order unto Judgment. And as Letters written with Onion or Limon Juice, appear not at the preſent, ſo may not the Impreſſes of theſe ſad Lines againſt thee, yet bring but thy Soul to this Fire we have been ſpeaking of, and every Character, Tittle, yea, Accent, or Aggravation of Sin, will be made viſible and legible: And hence it is the Books are ſaid to be opened, Rev. 20.
2. Again, do you not hear daily the Noiſe of Cannon-ſhot from Heaven let off, and the Bullets fly about your ears, and ſee them ſtrike this Man and that Man in your view? It is the Apoſtle's Conviction to the Gentiles, Rom. 1. 18. That therefore there is a Treaſury of Wrath to come, which he ſpeaks of, chap. 2. 4. becauſe at preſent even in this World, The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven againſt all Ʋngodlineſs and Ʋnrighteouſneſs of Men, that withhold the Truth in Ʋnrighteouſneſs. The meaning whereof is, There is no ſort or kind of Unrighteouſneſs or Ungodlineſs, but in the Inſtance or Example of ſome Man or other, God hath by ſome manifeſt Judgment ſhewn his Wrath againſt it, in the view and obſervation of the very Heathens themſelves, of and to whom it is he ſpeaks this. There was never a Nation of the Heathens, but the Stories of it would have afforded a Theatre of God's Judgments againſt all ſorts of Evils in in one Perſon or other, ſingled out by Decimation (as it were) in this World, to ſhew thereby that there was an hidden Wrath to come in the other World, which would fall upon all the reſt, who yet eſcaped at preſent. Thoſe few and ſcattered Inſtances manifeſted a Treaſury, a Magazine of Wrath in Heaven; his Phraſe is, from Heaven, that is, in and from God: which the Heathens alſo were ſenſible of, witneſs their Sacrifices of Atonement directed unto Heaven. And this to be the Apoſtle's Scope is clearly ſeen, in that he proſecutes this in the following Chap. 2. v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Therefore thou art inexcuſable, O Man, whoſoever thou art, that judgest: for wherein thou judgeſt another, thou condemneſt thy ſelf; for thou that judgeſt, doeſt the ſame things. But we are ſure that the Judgment of God is according to Truth againſt them which commit ſuch things. And thinkeſt thou this, O Man, that judgeſt them which do ſuch things, and doeſt the ſame, that thou ſhalt eſcape the Judgment of God? Or deſpiſeſt thou the Riches of his Goodneſs, and Forbearance, and Long-ſuffering, not knowing that the Goodneſs of God leadeth thee to Repentance? But after thy hardneſs, and impenitent Heart, [treaſureſt up unto thy ſelf Wrath againſt the Day of Wrath, and Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God. And unto this account you may put the enumeration of thoſe Inſtances of Judgment made by the other Apoſtles, as thoſe upon the Angels that fell, and on the Old World, on Sodom and Gomorrah, Corah, &c. whereof though ſome were outward and temporal Puniſhments, yet becauſe they were Evidences of that Wrath to come upon like impenitent Sinners, both theſe Apoſtles do to that purpoſe allege them, and make uſe thereof to beget this Belief in us. For ſo expreſly the one begins his Diſcourſe thereof: 2 Pet. 2. 3, 4, 5. Whoſe Judgment now of a long time lingreth not, and their Damnation ſlumbreth not. For if God ſpared not the Angels that ſinned, but caſt them down to Hell, and delivered them into Chains of Darkneſs, to be reſerved unto Judgment; and ſpared not the Old World, but ſaved Noah, the eighth Perſon, a Preacher of Righteouſneſs, bringing in the Flood upon the World of the Ʋngodly: And turned the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into Aſhes, condemned them with an Overthrow, making them an Enſample unto thoſe that after ſhould live ungodly. Then the other Apoſtle adds: Jude v. 7. They ſuffering the Vengeance of Eternal Fire. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of Temptations, and to reſerve the Ʋnjuſt unto the Day of Judgment, to be puniſhed. Conſider alſo what his Wrath hath been to whole Nations; and how he ſays, he will one day turn all the Nations into Hell that forget God, as the Pſalmiſt tells us, Pſal. 9. 7. He hath Priſons large enough, and Chains ſtrong enough, to hold them all. When the Jews ſaw one hundred & eighty thouſand of the Aſſyrians Hoſt killed in a night, afore the very Walls of Jeruſalem, Fearfulneſs ſurprized the Hypocrites; their Hearts melted with Terror to think what the Wrath of God muſt be for ever: Iſa. 33. 14, &c.
USE.
Then learn to adore and fear the Greatneſs of our God, to the end to turn to him.
Where he ſhews Favour, his Favour is Life, Pſal. 30. 5. yea, his Loving-kindneſs is better than Life, Pſal. 63. 3. Whom have I in Heaven but thee? There needs no other there.
On the contrary, if he be provoked, there needs no other Judg or Avenger but himſelf. I may ſay, The Weapons of his VVarfare within himſelf, are mighty to revenge all Diſobedience. This great General needs not borrow, nor call in the Aid of his Creatures, (though in reſpect of their being his Militia, he is ſtiled the Lord of Hoſts,) to make War, and deſtroy. That very Face of his gives Life, and ſtrikes dead and kills. In thy Preſence is Fulneſs of Joy, Pſal. 16. ult. And from his Preſence is Deſtruction, 2 Theſſ. 1. 9. O hide us, ſay they, Rev. 6. 16. from the Face of him that ſits on the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb. They point to the Fountain of their Anguiſh, and ſpeak what above all was it they dreaded. It is greatly obſervable, what and how God talks to Job, to this very purpoſe: Says God to Job, chap. 40. Wilt thou contend with me? So verſe 2. he begins to dare him: Come, ſays he, let this be among other one Trial of thy Power, (who had been a Prince, &c.) in compariſon of mine: Take upon thee, (as I mean to do) and be Judg of all the World: Put on thy Judges Robes, and thy biggeſt Looks: Thus verſe 10. Deck thy ſelf with Majeſty and Excellency, and array thy ſelf with Glory and Beauty. And particularly try; try what thou canſt do or effect, when thou art moſt angry, by thy meer Looks: Cast abroad the Rage of thy Wrath, v. 11. Throw Sparkles of thy moſt fiery Indignation from thine Eyes.—Canſt thou look a Man dead, and cover a Man's Face for ever with Confuſion? Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low: So verſ. 12. Hide them in the Duſt together, be they never ſo many; and bind their Faces in ſecret: that is, cover them with Confuſion of Face, with a Look or Rebuke of thy Face; make them run into Holes, or ſeek Mountains to cover them, to avoid the Terror of thy Looks. Now all this I can do (ſays God) with a meer Look, whenever I pleaſe: And I can as eaſily ſave alſo, as I can thus deſtroy, (which thou canſt not do thine own Soul) as the next Verſe inſinuates, Then will I confeſs thine own hand can ſave thee. You ſee he reſolves ſaving and deſtroying into the ſame Power of his, and maketh the ſame eſtimate of either; which the Apoſtle alſo doth, chap. 4. 12. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to ſave and to deſtroy.
My Exhortation therefore in fine is, Let us not fear Creatures, but fear Him, and make him your dread: and learn to know what a God ye walk before every day, and have for ever to do withal, Chriſt that came out of his Boſom knowing him, doth (Luke 12. 4. & 5. compared with Mat. 10. 26. & 28.) upon knowledg of this God make this ſame Exhortation; I ſay to you, (ſays he) and I will forewarn you, (he ſays it twice, and it is as if he had ſaid, Take it from me that know him) Fear him that is able to deſtroy Body and Soul. The Apoſtle ſuccenturiates, We know him that hath ſaid, Vengeance is mine: ſo here, Heb. 10. And again, We knowing the terror of the Lord, 2 Cor. 5. 11. which they know, by an eſtimate taken from his Goodneſs, that his Wrath muſt be anſwerable. And Moſes alſo, that had ſeen his Back-parts, and his Glory; He cries out, Who knows the power of thine Anger? Hypocrites and carnal Profeſſors (as thoſe were whom God profeſſedly takes to task Pſal. 50.) think to play with the great God, and deal with him any how, (as we ſay) as with a Man that is their Fellow. They know him not. Pſal. 50. 21. Theſe things haſt thou done, and I kept ſilence, and thou thoughteſt I was altogether ſuch an one as thy ſelf: And what things they had done and were guilty of (ſee if thou haſt not been guilty of the ſame or like) the 18, 19, & 20 verſes ſhew; When thou ſaweſt a Thief, then thou conſentedſt with him, and haſt been partaker with Adulterers. Thou giveſt thy Mouth to Evil, and thy Tongue frameth Deceit. Thou ſitteſt and ſpeakeſt againſt thy Brother, thou ſlanderest thine own Mothers Son. And God was ſilent or long-ſuffering. (The like you have Iſa. 57. 11, 12. Of whom haſt thou been afraid, that thou haſt lied, and haſt not remembred me, nor laid it to thy Heart? Have not I held my peace even of old, and thou feareſt me not, &c.) But mark what is the iſſue of all this; in Pſal. 50. 21. it follows, But I will reprove thee, and ſet them in order afore thee. They had never felt the ſmart of his Anger in all their Lives, and little thought that the Lion was in him: but it follows, Conſider this ye that forget God, leſt I [tear] you in peices, and there be none to deliver. Oh take heed and turn to him, or on the ſudden he will ſtart up like a mighty Lion, and tear your Souls in pieces, as a Giant might do Cobwebs, and prey upon the Blood of your very Souls, and break the Bones thereof as a Lion could of the moſt ſilly Creature. Add to this,
MEDITATION.
Conſider, What it is to die, and what the State and Condition of the other World is. It is to have to do with God immediately, either in Wrath or Love; and from his own hands, as well as from the immediate Sentence of his Mouth, to receive thy Weal or Woe.—That we come naked into this World, and go as naked out of it, was Job's Meditation firſt; after that David's, Pſal. 49. 15. We ſhall carry nothing away, that is, of what belongs to this World; then after him Solomon the Son, Eccleſ. 5. 15. As he came forth of his Mothers Womb (ſpeaking of Man) naked ſhall he return, to go as he came, and ſhall take nothing of his Labour, which he may carry away in his Hand. The Effect of which divine Meditation comes to this, To put ſecure and careleſs Man upon the conſideration of his immortal Souls Condition, which firſt cometh into this World naked (as well as his Body:) And poor thing! the meaning of its firſt cry (if the Soul it ſelf could then ſpeak out its mind) is, I am an empty thing, and have brought nothing with me; who will ſhew me any good? But after its being grown up, it begins to find a World richly furniſhed with all things to enjoy, as the Apoſtle's Phraſe is, 1 Tim. 6. 17. But yet again when he goes out of this World, he is then turned out of Houſe and Home, as perfectly naked as he came into it: and as Rev. 18. 14. The Fruits that thy Soul luſted after, and all things which are dainty and goodly, are departed from thee, and thou ſhalt find them no more at all. Death is therefore compared unto the breaking or failing of a Merchant or Tradeſman proving Bankrupt, Luke 16. 9. That when ye fail, &c. ſays Chriſt; of which I have elſewhere ſpoken.
Now if this be thy caſe as to this and that other World, think with thy ſelf what thine eternal Soul muſt then betake it ſelf unto, and alſo unto whom in that other World. My Doctrinal part hath informed you that it is God himſelf, God immediately,—Eccl. 12. 7. The Spirit returns unto him that gave it. To explain which, There was that evident difference put in the making man's Soul at firſt from that of his Body, That God made the Body out of the Earth, but the Soul was breathed in by God; and therefore not out of any preexiſtent matter, as the Souls and Forms of all other living things are. And upon this diſſolution or ſeparation of each from other, it is that Solomon ſays, Then ſhall the Duſt return to the Earth as it was: and the Soul to God that gave it; that is to ſay, the ſame common Law befalls either in their kind, that to other things in their kind; they are reduced unto their firſt Principles. And ſo look as the Body is materially reſolved into the Earth, which was the firſt matter of it; ſo according to ſome kind of Analogy thereunto, (and ſo far as the Soul is capable of a like return unto God,) the Soul returns to God that gave it; as having been the immediate Original of it, not materially, as a Spark is out of the Fire, but as the immediate Efficient. It came from God by way of Gift, God gave it; that is, freely and voluntarily produced it by a ſole, ſingle, free Act of his Will and Power, whereby he created it out of nothing; and ſo in the whole of it, it was an entire and meer Gift of his. And therefore in the beginning of his Exhortation, verſe 1 of this Chap. he had aforehand laid this as a Foundation for it, Remember thy Creator, or Creators, and is ſo ſtiled, becauſe he is in a more ſpecial manner thy Creator, than of our Bodies, or of other Creatures; and that becauſe himſelf immediately gave thy Soul, in ſuch a manner as he produced not our Bodies, nor material Subſtances.—And hence it is it returns to him, as the immediate Judg or Arbiter of its eternal Condition. It returns to Elohim; which, as A Lapide and Ferdinandus Ad Deum qui dedit] Tanquam ad ſuum uti Factorem ſic & Judicem; (hunc enim ſignificat Heb. Elohim:) ut illi actionum ſuarum per omnem vitam exercitarum rationem reddat. A Lapide, in Eccleſ. 12. 7. In Hebraeo ponitur nomen Elohim, Judex, Inſpector, Teſtis; unde Chald. vertit [ut ſtet in Judicio ante Dominum.] Ferdinandus in verba.have obſerved in their Comments, ſignifies alſo a Judg as well as a Creator, and ſo was choſen out here, as a word more fitly ſerving that his ſcope, than any other Name of God's. Now then think what it is to die; it is to return to God, ſo as eternally and immediately to have to do with him.
And then withal conſider the different Diſpenſations of this Great God towards you in this World, and that next. In this World Mens Souls having Creature-Comforts, God communicates himſelf unto them thereby; and by reaſon of his Patience and Long-ſuffering to them added hereto, they hear not of, nor from him immediatly; the moſt of Men do not otherwiſe than in theſe mediate ways. I was altogether ſilent, ſays God, Pſal. 50. He anſwers them neither good nor bad. And thus tho he is not far off from any of us, but Men live and move in him, in reſpect of his Power to uphold them, as Acts 17. 28. or, as verſe 25. He giveth Life and Breath unto all things; (which Clauſe doth interpret that other, v. 28.) Yet as to converſe with, or intimate knowledg of him, he is the unknown God, v. 23. and Men live without God (in that reſpect) in this World, as Eph. 2. 12.
But altho Men thus live without God here, they ſhall not live (I might ſay [not die] rather, for it is a Death,) without God in the World to come. I beſeech you think with your ſelves, how that your Converſe with this Great God in this World is (I expreſs it by that of Men with a Lion, comparatively,) but as through a Grate, (as that of the Spouſe's with him is ſaid to be but through a Lettice, Cant. 2. 9.) And he keeps to the Laws of his ordinary Providence: he breaks not forth immediatly, but lies ſtill and quiet; and through his patience ſuffereth and permitteth Men to walk by him, and do all their Hearts deſire, and lets them alone. But, Brethren, when you come to die; it is as if one were turned in unto that Lion with the Grate open; and thoſe Repagula of his Patience removed, your poor Souls, your naked Souls, are upon him immediatly, and muſt (in a clean contrary way to what the Saints do) dwell with him for ever.—The Conſideration of this ſtruck dread and horror into the Hearts of the Sinners of Sion, (as it may well do in any Soul that hath not Communion with God.) Iſa. 33. 14. The Sinners in Sion are afraid, fearfulneſs hath ſurprized the Hypocrites; [who among us ſhall dwell] with the devouring Fire? Who amongſt us ſhall dwell with everlaſting burnings? (I opened that place afore, and ſhewed that this devouring Fire was God himſelf:) Theſe ſpeak one to another as Men affrighted uſe to do, and as ſtruck on the ſudden with apprehenſions of the greatneſs of that God, whom their Conſciences (now awakened) told them they had to do withal for ever. And they look trembling one on the other, and the common cry and voice among them thereupon is, Whoſe Portion will this prove to be? For it will be the Portion of ſome: or, Who of us, or all Creatures, is able to bear it or endure it? And upon this Conference (as I may term it) and inquiſition among themſelves, God by the Prophet ſteps out and anſwers them, but in a clean contrary way, and to their further confuſion, and tells them: There are thoſe that ſhall dwell with me thus immediately, unto whom I will be Glory and Happineſs, who ſhall walk in the comfort of this Fire which you thus dread; and who (like the three Children in that fiery Furnace) ſhall be refreſhed therein. So it follows, He that walks righteouſly, and ſpeaks uprightly, he ſhall dwell on high. And therefore it further follows, 1. as a Promiſe to the upright and pure in Heart, ver. 17. Thine Eyes ſhall ſee the King in his Glory. And 2. with a further threatning to the Hypocrites, Thine Heart, who art an Hypocrite, ſhall meditate Terror, ver. 18.
Now then again, ſeeing you have thus to do with the great God alone for ever, let every one of us prepare to meet our God. Amos 4.This neceſſarily puts you upon ſeeking of him here in this World, and to ſeek that Face and favour of his, in which alone is Life. You muſt therefore alſo give up your Souls unto him here, to live in him, as in your chiefeſt Good, and not in your Luſts; and to live to him, as your higheſt End and conſtant Intereſt; and as whoſe Glory ſhould act and ſteer you in all your ways; and not unto your ſelves. And therefore you, that have neglected this great God, or ſerved him but in Formality and Hypocriſy, (which in Scripture hath the denomination of thoſe that forget God) who never knew what it is to have intimate Communion and Fellowſhip with him through Faith in Prayer and other Converſes, joined with hearty Love unto him, and to the Intereſt of his Glory: Think, O think with your ſelves, when you come to die, that you muſt go to him, and be with him for ever, in that ſence I have given. Think with thy ſelf thus: My Soul will be turned naked out of this World, and there is nothing, no not a Rag of any of the Comforts I purſue after here, which ſhall be carried with it from hence; but it is the great God I muſt be turned naked unto, and appear afore; and if my Soul be found naked of his Image too, (which to have renewed in me was the only Errand he ſent my Soul for into this World) and if I bring not that along with me, as my current Token, Ticket, and Paſs into the other World, there will not be a dwelling-place of Bliſs for me, to receive me into; not ſuch an one as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of for the Comfort of the Saints, 2 Cor. 5. 1, 3. We know that if our earthly Tabernacle be diſſolved, we have a Building of God; if ſo be we ſhall not be found naked, v. 3. that is, devoid of his Image, as alſo of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs. But inſtead thereof this great God will be unto me as a Furnace, and I muſt dwell with thoſe everlaſting Burnings ſpoken of, even for ever.
And then think with thy ſelf again: What communion or correſpondency hath my Soul kept and held with God? what acquaintance hath it had with him? For otherwiſe it will be ſtrange you ſhould commend your Souls into his hands, (as Chriſt did, and the Saints uſe to do when they die) and that with a deſire and intention to live that Eternity with him which is to come, and yet not to have lived at all with him or to him here. How doſt thou think thou canſt look him in the face at thy firſt appearance afore him? If they ſhould take thy Soul away from thee Luk. 12. 20this Night, as Chriſt's ſpeech is, how canſt thou think God ſhould then at firſt look on thee, much leſs take thee into eternal, immediate Boſom-communion with himſelf for ever? I pray, upon what acquaintance? And ſo may God alſo ſay unto thee. O therefore remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth; learn to know and fear him; Acquaint thy ſelf with him, and be at Peace: Receive Job 22. 21, 22.the Law, I pray thee, from his Mouth, &c.
Again, think with thy ſelf, What do I purſuing after the things of this Life with my deareſt affections, and utmoſt intentions? Alas! I am to live for ever with God, and not with theſe. The Apoſtle ſets forth a Manifeſto upon it, 1 Tim. 6. 7. We brought nothing into this World, and it is certain (or manifeſt, ſays he, foreign,) we carry nothing out: and thereby provokes them to purſue with might and main after Godlines, which alone is great Gain, and only current Money in the other World. And this is the manifeſt coherence of thoſe two Sayings, following immediatly one the other in thoſe two verſes, v. 6, 7. But Godlineſs with Contentment is great Gain. For (ſays he) we brought nothing into this World, and it is certain we can carry nothing out: the latter being a Motive to the former. And therefore alſo upon the ſame ground it follows, Truſt in the living God, and not in Riches, (ſo neither in Learning, Wiſdom, Credit, &c.) v. 17. For why? It is the living God whom you are to have to do withal for ever. Altho he hath for the preſent given you, and provided all things in this World richly to enjoy, (as it follows there) yet he hath reſerved himſelf for you to enjoy in the other World. And it is the [living God] in my Text likewiſe, Heb. 10.into whoſe hands you fall as of a Judg and Avenger, if you fall ſhort of Godlineſs. And it is this living God you muſt be made happy in and by for ever.
The great Theme and Subject of Eccleſiaſtes, you know, is, that All is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit. Now you may obſerve, how Solomon upon this very ground and account I have now been preſſing, doth ſet a freſh ſtamp upon, and his laſt Seal unto that Truth, that all is vain, Eccl. 12. 8. even from this ground, That a Man's Spirit returns unto God that gave it, v. 7. Read and obſerve the coherence of thoſe two Verſes, v. 7, 8. Then ſhall the Duſt return unto the Earth as it was, and the Spirit ſhall return to God who gave it. Vanity of Vanities, (ſaith the Preacher) all is Vanity. He had in the beginning of this Book pronounced them Vanities, chap. 1. Vanity of Vanities, &c. And he had all along proved them vain at the beſt, as they are enjoyed in this World, unto thoſe who enjoy them moſt abundantly, moſt freely. But now when in the concluſion he had brought Man himſelf, that is, the enjoyer of them, and diſcourſed him into his Grave, laid him in the duſt, and ſaid thereupon that his Soul muſt then immediately go to God, then he cries out anew, (having reſerved it for the concluſion of all, and that alſo upon an account greater than all the former:) [Vanity of Vanities, ſaith the Preacher, all is Vanity:] and thereupon infers, as the cloſe, Let us hear the concluſion of the whole matter, Fear God, and keep his Commandments, v. 13. For God ſhall bring every Work unto Judgment, with every ſecret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. You may obſerve how the Apoſtle in a parallel manner alſo ſpeaks, It is appointed for all Men to die, and after this the Judgment, Heb. 9. ult. juſt as Solomon here.
USE.
Let me next deal ſtrictim, or at downright blows with you. I firſt ſerve every Soul here with an Arreſt, That he was once a Child of Wrath, Eph. 2. 3. Children of Wrath by Nature as well as others; let every Man clear himſelf of it unto God as he can; all were born ſuch, and continue ſuch until now, 1 John 2. 9. if they have not become otherwiſe, by an eſcape made (from the ſenſe of this danger) which is termed by the Baptiſt a flying from the Wrath to come, Mat. 3. 7. an eſcaping the Damnation of Hell, by Chriſt, Mat. 23. 33. As the Murtherer did when he ran to the City of Refuge from the attach of the Avenger of Blood, (as in Heb. 6. 18. the alluſion is) a flying for refuge unto Chriſt. Which eſcape is made by a ſolid, and ſerious, and over-powring apprehenſion of that eſtate to be ſuch, as that a Man continuing therein, he apprehends he is every moment obnoxious to this Wrath, which drives him unto Chriſt as a Deliverer from that Wrath, joined with a giving a Man's ſelf up to him: Both which, through the Power of the Holy Ghoſt accompanying them, do work a change of Heart and Life in him, an actual turning of the Soul unto God from all Sin to Godlineſs. And until a Man be thus ingrafted into Chriſt, and thereby made a new Creature in him, All this Wrath, as Chriſt ſays John 3. ult. remains or abides upon him. Which word [remains] imports (as was ſaid) his condition to have been originally, and in it ſelf, and from the beginning, and uninterruptedly under Wrath; until ſaving Faith, which is accompanied with Regeneration and true Repentance, puts the difference. So as there needs no more to be enquired of ſuch a Man, but what have you to ſay for the alteration of your Eſtate? without which it is one and the ſame that it was at the firſt; he continues under Condemnation until now: Wrath remains. As we uſe to ſay, An Outlawry, a Sentence of Death remains upon a Man till pardoned. He ſays not only that the Wrath of God is coming upon ſuch a Man, (as the Apoſtle's Phraſe is) but it abides, &c. the Apoſtle indeed ſays, it comes, as in reſpect to the execution John 8.of it; but Chriſt ſays, it abides on a Man, in reſpect of a Man's being bound over unto it, until the Son doth make him free.
Then again think with your ſelves, how that this Wrath of God is declared to be againſt all ungodlineſs and unrighteouſneſs of any kind, continued in a way of Diſobedience. And be thy Sins ſmall or great, yet whilſt thou art in that Eſtate, this Wrath is in their proportion due unto all that ungodlineſs and unrighteouſneſs in thee, and remains upon thee for them. Firſt, againſt all ungodlineſs, though it be but in deadneſs, averſeneſs unto, and turning aſide from God unto the Creature: whereupon follow Neglects, Contempts of him, Enmities to him, and thence Omiſſion of Duties towards him, and not glorifying him as God, as there ver. 21. And ſecondly, all unrighteouſneſs unrepented of and continued in; the enumeration of the Particulars of which you may have in the ſame Chapter, verſ. 29, 30. being filled with all Ʋnrighteouſneſs, Fornication, Wickedneſs, Covetouſneſs, Maliciouſneſs, full of Envy, Murther, Debate, Deceit, Malignity, Whiſperers, Backbiters, Haters of God, Diſpiteful, Proud, Boaſters, Inventors of evil Things, Diſobedient to Parents, &c. And to ſtrike thy Heart yet more, think what Sins the Apoſtle more eſpecially ſingleth out, as thoſe for which he ſpecially indigitates that the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Diſobedience, Col. 3. 5, 6. Even Fornication, Ʋncleanneſs, inordinate Affection, evil Concupiſcence, and Covetouſneſs, which is Idolatry: For which things ſake the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Diſobedience; that is, that live in them in a way of Rebellion and Diſobedience unto God.
And conſider, they are not Heathens only, whom the Wrath of God is poured forth upon; though ſo, Pſal. 79. 6. Pour out thy Wrath upon the Heathen that have not known thee; and Pſal. 9. 17. All the Nations that forget God ſhall be turned into Hell: But it is alſo thoſe that live under and obey not the Goſpel; and thoſe eſpecially. In 2 Theſ. 1. 7, 8, 9. The Subjects of this Wrath are reduced to theſe two, thoſe that know not God, they were theſe Heathens; and thoſe that obey not the Goſpel, that is, who profeſſing it, and living under the means of it, even the Children of the Kingdom, (as they are called Mat. 8. 12. and Mat. 13. 41.) there ſhall be gathered out of the Kingdom (that is, the viſible Profeſſors of Religion in the ſtrictneſs of it) all things (that is, Perſons) that do offend, and do Iniquity, or are workers of it. Thoſe firſt and eſpecially, that have given ſcandal by doing Iniquity openly, and repented not, and then thoſe that ſecretly [do Iniquity;] that are found workers of it in any kind, they ſhall be gathered (ſays Chriſt) and caſt them into a Furnace of Fire; and Hypocrites eſpecially, they are made the meaſure and ſtandard of all other that are caſt into it, both by Chriſt and the Prophet Iſaiah.
But not only theſe, but in Mat. 12. 22. He that but wanteth the Wedding-Garment; not the poſitive doers of Iniquity only, but that want true Grace, Sincerity of Faith, and Love unto Jeſus Chriſt; the wanting all thoſe Graces, Col. 3. 12. Gal. 6. 15. which as a Garment he ſhould have put on (as in thoſe places) that came to ſuch a Wedding, the Wedding of ſo great a Perſon. And when there, he ſays to ſuch an one, Friend; it is an upbraiding Speech, ſuch an one as Chriſt uſed to Judas, Matth. 26. 50. becauſe he had profeſſed himſelf to be a Friend, but is diſcovered to be a falſe and feigned one; How comeſt thou hither? here is no room for thee. And though Chriſt is ſaid to ſpy out but one ſuch among that Company, yet it is the caſe of many: For, that the concluſion of that Parable, verſ. 14. importeth, Many are called, few are choſen: and ſo that one Perſon is profeſſedly made but the Inſtance or Example of what Chriſt will do with all others that are ſuch; who will prove many. And it is ſaid that he was ſpeechleſs, or ſtrangled as with an Halter (as the Original Word ſignifies) through obſtupefaction of Spirit. Now of this Man, and all other ſuch, Chriſt the King ſaith, ver. 13. Bind him Hand and Foot, (that he may not be able to help himſelf or deliver himſelf) and cast him into outer Darkneſs, there ſhall be weeping and gnaſhing of Teeth. And the true reaſon is, becauſe if Mens Eſtates be found unrenewed or unregenerate, (as this Mans was through want of true Grace) then the Sins of their whole Lives do abide upon their ſcore, and are charged upon them. And every ſuch an one, even the fineſt-ſpun Hypocrite, hath Sins enough (if he had no other) in thoſe very deficiencies and fallings ſhort of true and ſpiritual Grace, which he wholly wants. And the higheſt and moſt ſublimated work of the Spirit, which a Man remaining unregenerate is any way capable of, through heavenly enlightnings, and taſtings of the Powers of the World to come, ſtirring up but ſelf only, and the Affections thereof towards ſpiritual things, is capable of being diſcovered, not only that it is a deficient work, and ſhort of true Holineſs at that day: but alſo when all the inward Obliquities, Motives, Ends, Purpoſes, Affections, that are in ſuch Mens Hearts; that were the influencers and guides of their Ways and Actions, are diſcovered, it will be found that they all are matter of Wrath, as truly as their other Sins: And their Perſons will be proved to have continued under the Wrath of God abiding on them, as well as groſſer Sinners. And that there will be the diſcovery of theſe things in ſuch Men, is the genuine ſcope of that Paſſage, Heb. 4. 13, 14. The Word of God (underſtand it whether of Chriſt, or the Word of Chriſt) is quick and powerful, and ſharper than any two-edged Sword, piercing even to the dividing aſunder of Soul and Spirit, and of the Joints and Marrow, and is a Diſcerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart: Neither is there any Creature (that is, of the Heart of Man) that is not manifeſt in his Sight, with whom we have to do. For unto ſuch Profeſſors among the Jews, as had been enlightned, &c. as chap. 6. of whom you alſo read up and down in that Epiſtle; and yet ſtill remained in real and ſpiritual unbelief, as verſ. 11. of this very Chapter compared with Jude verſ. 5. is this Paſſage particularly directed, and of them intended.
Conſider moreover, that the longer thou goeſt on in this Eſtate, or in thy Sin, the more of Wrath thou treaſureſt up unto thy ſelf, as Rom. 2. Every Moment Sins do add unto that heap. And all thy Sins are barrel'd up in thy Conſcience, as Gun-powder fully dry; and an anſwerable Proportion and Meaſure of Wrath is laid up in God's Heart; and when theſe meet, and that it comes to paſs that the Fire of God's Wrath breaks forth out of his Heart into thine, then thy Soul is blown up in an inſtant, and a Fire kindled that burns for ever in Hell.
And meditate alſo how frail thy Life is, how thin and ſlight a Skreen of Fleſh there is betwixt all this Wrath and thy bare Soul; which if worn, or any way ſliced through, the Soul runs out. Nay, that venemous Spider, thy Soul, dwells but in a Cobweb, which if broken, or any violence be done it, it inſtantly flies away into the other World.—Job, in ſeveral places, delights to compare our Lives and Condition in this World unto a Candle or Lamp: Now let the Candle be let alone to burn it ſelf out fairly to its full length, yet ſome laſt but a very little while, and thoſe of the greateſt ſize cannot long. Oh, but how many intervening Caſualties are there, that afore do put it out? The Candle of the Wicked ſhall be put out, and Deſtruction cometh upon them, Job 21. 17. that is, ab extrinſeco, from without. How many Thieves in the Candle, or fatal Accidents do Men meet with, that unawares conſume it? Immoderate Sorrows and Cares ſwale it; Intemperance, like too much Oyl poured thereon to feed it, choaketh and extinguiſheth it; Too much Intention of Mind turns the Flame downwards upon it ſelf, and ſo it evaporates. Often another Mans Breath in ſeaſons of Malignity (which fall out more or leſs every year) blows and puffs it out. A Friends Breath comes in with an infectious Vapour, and throws his Soul out who viſits him: Yea, an unskilful or elſe a miſtaking hand of a Phyſician, who undertakes to ſnuff and brighten it; unwarily clean ſnuffs the Candle out.—Yea, Men ſtrong and vigorous go to the Grave in a moment, as in the ſame 21. chapter of Job, ver. 13. Yea, as Pſal. 55. 15. they go quick to Hell: it is an alluſion to Corah, Dathan, &c. Numb. 16. 30, 33. of whom 'tis ſaid twice, They went alive to Hell. Many die ſo ſuddenly, that they are in Hell in a trice, and as it were ere quite dead. And truly the moſt of Men live in this World like ſilly Sheep in a Pasture, as David's Similitude is Pſal. 4. 9. 14. They are See Ainſw.put into Hell like Sheep, (ſo ſome:) It notes out their Security in reſpect of that ſlaughter which comes upon them. This Man dies, then that, then another, and they regard it not; even as the Sheep do not, when the Butcher (as his Pleaſure is) takes out firſt one, then another, and carries them to the Shambles, whilſt the reſt feed on; and know not that themſelves are a fatting to the day of Slaughter alſo.
Let us conſider alſo, what millions of Tranſgreſſions are we guilty of in one Day? Oh then what in thy whole Life? And what a reckoning will the Sins of thy whole Life come to, when every Commandment ſhall bring in their Bills? and that thou haſt to do with a God, who, 1. hath all thy Sins before him, Iſa. 65. 6. Behold, it is written afore me, but I will recompence, &c. 2. That will never forget any one of them, Amos 8. 7. The Lord hath ſworn, Surely I will never forget any of their Works. 3. With a God who will bate thee nothing, Every Tranſgreſſion ſhall receive a juſt recompence of reward: He ſpared not his own Son. Rom. 8. and will not thee, unleſs by regeneration thou haſt a Portion in his Son. Think with thy ſelf what a caſe thou art in, if thou muſt anſwer Juſtice for all and every one of theſe.
DAVID's Meditation, Pſal. XLIX.
The moſt of theſe things hitherto by way of Uſe ſpoken by me, are no other than what David himſelf ſpends one whole Pſalm together upon; it is Pſal. 49. and ſtyles it The Meditation of his Heart, verſ. 3. which cauſed me to entitle that former about what it is to dye, a Meditation rather than an Ʋſe; as I had done that of Moſes alſo, Pſal. 90. This of David's I ſhall here add, to ſet the deeper ſeal and weight upon all that hath been treated.
He begins the Pſalm, and ſhews the moment of theſe matters, though in view but ordinary, with as ſolemn a Preface and Proclamation, calling upon attention and heed hereto, as any where we find in Scriptures. 1. In the firſt verſe he ſummons all the World into a Ring about him, Hear ye this all the People; give Ear all the Inhabitants of the World. And 2. particulariſeth forth his Auditors into all ſorts of Conditions, verſ. 2. Both low and high, rich and poor together. For why? what he was to utter to them, did as much concern the one as it did the other, and behoved them all alike to look to; as being that which eſpecially concerned them in reſpect unto their Being in the other World, how different ſoever their Condition was in this. And 3. he cries up the matter it ſelf, as the greateſt Wiſdom, verſ. 3. and a deep myſterious Parable and dark ſaying, verſ. 4. My Mouth ſhall ſpeak of Wiſdom, and the Meditation of my Heart ſhall be of Ʋnderſtanding: I will incline mine Ear unto a Parable, I will open my dark ſaying upon the Harp.—Now what ſhould this matter be! It was to declare two things, which take up that whole Pſalm.
The firſt, how in the ſtyle of a Be it known to all Men, (for we have ſeen he publiſheth it to all) he aloud declares, I for my part am not afraid to die, and go into that other World. Which confidence of his he greatens by this Suppoſition ſuperadded: That if, when he ſhould come to die, all the Sins of his whole Life were preſented afore his view, yet notwithſtanding he ſhould not be afraid: thus ver. 5. Wherefore ſhould I fear in the days of evil, when the Iniquities of my heels ſhall compaſs me about? A ſtrange confidence! which yet he found reaſon for from God: For he challengeth all or any thing to bring in reaſon to the contrary; let them all ſay, [Wherefore ſhould I fear?] And yet his other Pſalms, as well as his Story, tell us what an infinite number of Sins were upon his ſcore, and how ſenſible he was thereof.—And that this bold Speech of his relates ſpecially to the day of Death, or days wherein he might have cauſe to fear it, (though I will exclude no other times of Trouble, that were yet to come before, in this Life, to be intended by him; which Interpreters wholly carry it unto) that this is his ſcope, I ſhall make appeal to the whole drift of what follows throughout the Pſalm: which concerns the ſtate of wicked Men in their Death, (which I ſhall by and by ſhew:) But ſpecially I argue it from the reference and correſpondency this Speech hath with and to verſ. 15. God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave, for he ſhall receive me. Selah. There you have the reaſon or ground of this his Confidence, which he had at firſt uttered in ver. 5. perfectly expreſſed, as that which he oppoſed unto all Therefore's or Wherefore's to the contrary; yea, though they ſhould be fetch'd from his very Sins, that might (if any thing) make him afraid. But there in that reſolve of his, ver. 15. he centers, and landeth this which he had ſo confidently uttered in ver. 5. And all the reſt of his diſcourſe that comes between, is apparently about the oppoſite condition of wicked Men; As that they muſt die, and what their eſtate is in and after Death; all which was but to illuſtrate this Confidence of his.
He plainly in this ver. 5. puts himſelf into the ſuppoſition, as if he were then to die, and as if Death (the King of terrors, Job 18. 19.) were ſetting down his ſiege about him, and that all the Iniquities of his heels or ways, (which are Deaths ſtrongeſt Forces, The Sting of Death is Sin, and the ſtrength of Sin is the Law, 1 Cor. 15. 5, 6.) were as an Army formed up, encompaſſing him round, (which out of Pſal. 40. 12. I have ſhewed to have been his caſe, and the very Metaphor he there alſo uſeth.) But now David was ſo ſteeled, as though he placed himſelf (thus aforehand) in the full view and face of all theſe, ſingle and alone in the midſt of them; he yet outdares them all, as the Apoſtle did Rom. 8. ult. ſtrengthned with this, for the Lord will receive my Soul; which Phraſe of Speech to be the ſame that a dying Saint uſeth, you all know.—And this part of his Speech, v. 5. might have come in as comfortable an Uſe as any other, of that former Doctrine, [the innumerable number of Sins;] but that this other part that now follows doth properly belong unto what hath been now laſt inſiſted on; and ſo I rather placed both here.
The ſecond thing is, The oppoſite ſtate of wicked Men in their Lives, and in relation to their dying, and alſo at and after Death; by which he both illuſtrates and expounds his meaning in ver. 5. to be to utter his own bleſſed condition at his Death, v. 15. and to that purpoſe it is, he further dilates upon the death of wicked Men in the reſt of the Pſalm: And which is indeed a kind of Summary of what in the former Meditation I have preſt.
During their Lives, they trust in their Wealth, and boaſt themſelves in the multitude of their Riches, v. 6. and yet they ſee (as the word is, v. 10.) that they cannot redeem their own or others precious Souls from bodily Death, or obtain of God by a Ranſom, that they ſhould live for ever. For he ſees the wiſe Man die like as the Fool, and ſo leave their Wealth to others: Thus in v. 7, 8, 9, 10. That which therefore (miſerable Wretches) they relieve themſelves with againſt this, is, Their inward thought is, that their Houſes ſhall continue for ever, and their Dwelling-places to all Generations: They call their Lands after their own Names, and their Posterity approve their Sayings, v. 13. Tho when he dies, he ſhall carry nothing away, his Glory ſhall not deſcend after him, &c. And whither goes he when he dies? His Soul (ſo 'tis in the Original, and varied in the Margin,) ſhall go to the Generation of his Fathers, (to the Company of thoſe Giants of the Old World, from whom Hell hath its Name ſo oft in the Proverbs.) And where are they all? The Spirits in Priſon. So the Apoſtle reſolves us, ſpeaking of the Men of the old World, 1 Pet. 3. 19. And they ſhall never ſee Light or comfort more, ſays the Pſalmiſt. But as for me (ſays David, v. 15.) God ſhall receive me into the boſom of his Love and Bliſs.—And then again upon their dying, They are laid as Sheep in the Grave; Death ſhall feed on them, and prey upon them: The firſt Death upon their bodies in the Grave, the ſecond Death upon their Souls. And their Beauty ſhall conſume in the Grave: ſo as at the morning (as there) of the Reſurrection, the greateſt Perſonages, that have had ſuch a Gleam of Glory to attend them whilſt they lived, accompanied perhaps alſo with dominion over others, ſhall then riſe ſuch ugly ſhabby Death-eaten and Hell-eaten Creatures, (as we uſe to ſay, Moth-eaten) all their Beauty being preyed upon, (that's his word) and conſumed: And ſuch ſhall they appear in Judgment, where the upright (whom they deſpiſed) ſhall have dominion over them, ver. 14. But (ſays David) God ſhall redeem my Soul from the power of the Grave: For he ſhall receive me. Selah.
And for the further illuſtration of all this, and how it relates unto Death, I ſhall only caſt in a manifeſt parallel between what David here had meditated about the condition of wicked Men at Death, with what our Lord himſelf hath ſeconded it withal, in expreſſions fully herewith agreeing, treating of wicked mens dying alſo; Luke 12. 16. unto ver. 21. 'Tis the Parable of that rich Man, whoſe Soul was taken away that night. 1. Says David, Their inward thought is, &c. ver. 11. And ſays Chriſt, He thought within himſelf, ſo ver. 17. 2. Whilſt he lived he bleſſed himſelf, ſo David ver. 18. namely, in thoſe his inward Thoughts about his Goods and Poſterity: And the like ſpeaks Chriſt, to be the inward ſpeech and applauding himſelf, of his rich Man; He ſays to his Soul, Soul, thou haſt many Goods laid up for many years, take thine eaſe and be merry. Again 3. of this Man Chriſt ſays, Thou Fool, this night, &c. ver. 20. And David of his, This their way is their Folly, ver. 10. 4. And finally, the reaſon of that their Folly, which both Chriſt and David give, do center in one and the ſame: This Night thy Soul ſhall be required thee, then whoſe ſhall theſe things thou haſt provided be? Thus Chriſt, ver. 20. and David correſpondently, His Soul ſhall go, &c. They ſhall never ſee light, ver. 19. and he ſhall carry nothing away, but leave his Wealth to others, verſes 10, 17.
But ſtill withal, let us remember what David's concluſion is concerning himſelf at his Death, and which he placeth in the midſt as the center of his Diſcourſe, which hath all this other about wicked Men round about it, to the end to magnify the Mercy thereof to himſelf; But God ſhall redeem my Soul, and ſhall receive me. Selah. The Mercy of both which the laſt Uſe of all, that next follows, doth concern; and ſo ſhuts up this Diſcourſe.
USE.
Let all Believers from hence learn, how to ſet a due and full value upon that Salvation, which they profeſs to expect, and which God hath deſigned to give them.
Our great and gracious God, the more to bind and oblige the redeemed of the Sons of Men unto himſelf, hath twiſted their Salvation of a double Cord of Love. 1. A privitive one, ſeen in what they are ſnatcht out of, which is termed a being ſaved from Wrath, Rom. 5. A delivering from Wrath, 1 Theſſ. 1. 10. An eſcaping the Damnation of Hell, Mat. 23. 33. A not (ſo much as) entring into Condemnation, John 5. 24. 2. The other a poſitive part, The Glory to be revealed; the greatneſs of which no Tongue can utter, or Heart conceive. That Bleſſedneſs or Glory conferred on the elect Angels, and that favour ſhewn them, hath not this privative part of Salvation to greaten it; further then as by way of prevention, in that God upheld them from falling into the Merit or Deſert of it. Whereas we Men are all become guilty afore God, were actually under Wrath, Children of Wrath even as others, one as well as another, Epheſ. 2. And the weight of this he in that Scripture would have them put into the Scale whenever they thought of Salvation; By Grace ye are ſaved: ſo as with a Note of Remark it follows, v. 8.—God hath thus doubled the Mercy of Salvation to us, on purpoſe to make it Salvation indeed; So great Salvation! as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Heb. 2. which duplication is ſeen in all parts of our Salvation as well as this, as might be largely ſhewn.
There are many gracious Saints that have had no Impreſſions of Wrath, no fears and terrors of Hell, ſet upon their Souls in their firſt Humiliation; nay, the Conſideration thereof hath had but ſmall influence into their Hearts by way of Motive, in turning them unto God; but it hath been pure free Love hath taken their Hearts, and ſwallowed up their thoughts. Yet mark what I ſhall ſay unto thee in this Caſe, altho indeed the leſs thou haſt been moved in thy turning to God with ſuch fears or impreſſions of Hell, it be in ſome reſpect the better, for the more kindly hath God's Work been in that reſpect upon thee; and it alſo argues a ſpecial tenderneſs in God's Heart towards thy Soul, to have reſtrained the Roughneſs of the Eaſt-Wind from blowing on thee, as the Prophet ſpeaks. Yet let me withal ſay, That the more any one hath (after Converſion) taken into conſideration this Wrath, (I do not mean by Terrors, but) by a practical meditation of it, and his own deſert thereof; the more (when joined together with the former, of God's pure Love) it will move his Heart to Thankfulneſs to God for ſaving him. And the more thine Heart hath this way been enlarged, the more of God's Love, which thou art either aſſured of, or relieſt upon, muſt needs be greatned to thee; yea, and prove the higher incentive of Love unto God again from thee. Whereas on the contrary (that I may give a Caution) becauſe there ſeemeth to be ſuch an Ingenuity in Grace its working in that firſt reſpect mentioned, that Wrath hath had no influence at all. Hence ſuch Perſons are apt too much to neglect, or not to mind the Conſideration of God's Wrath at all; no not ſo much as in this latter way mentioned; but thinking to keep up an Ingenuity of Love, they entertain not this at all in their Meditations. But ſure this is far more blame-worthy than that other is commendable; and that by how much there comes thereby to be a Loſs, of ſo much and of ſo great a part of God's Love purpoſely thereby deſigned to be ſhewn: (I term it a Loſs, for what is not ſeen, and the Heart conſiders not, nor is ſenſible of, is as if it had not been.) And further I add, that this valuing of God's Love herein ſhewed, at its own full rate in both reſpects, is a matter of greater moment than the working of thy Love to him, in ſo ingenuous and kindly a way, (as thou ſuppoſeſt) without all or any conſideration of Hell or Wrath, can ariſe unto. And this by how much God's Love to us, in the full latitude of it, is a thing more precious than our Love to him. Of the two, God had rather have us apprehend his Love towards us in the utmoſt extent thereof, than have our Love, or Love from us to him, to work but in that one way of Ingenuouſneſs: yea, and in the iſſue you will all find, that if you join the Conſiderations of both together, they will concur to work an higher Ingenuity of Love, than that other way alone can do.
If we will come to comprehend with all Saints the Heighth, and Depth, &c. of the Love of God and Christ, in all the dimenſions of it, we muſt take that courſe and way in our Meditations about it, which God himſelf hath laid out and deſigned on purpoſe to ſet it forth and greaten it unto us by. Which he hath done as well by ſo great a deliverance from ſo great a Wrath due to us, as by conferring ſo rich an Inheritance of Glory upon us. And look as God hath two ſuch vaſt Contrivances, of infinite weight each of them, the one in his right hand, the other in his left, for the manifeſtation of his Love; ſo we ſhould have two Scales in the hand of our Faith to weigh each by: And of the two it may perhaps be hard to ſay which is the more maſſy, that is, in the apprehenſions of ſome of thoſe who have been deeply humbled for Sin, and under ſenſe of Wrath, (tho I think Glory carries it by far.)
I obſerve that our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt himſelf, tho but made a Surety for Sin, and tho it was impoſſible he ſhould be holden of Wrath or any thing he was to ſuffer, Acts 2. 24. yet he doth conſider, as well for his bleſſing God, as alſo to his own Comfort, in Pſal. 16. 7. and 10. (a Pſalm made wholly of him) and magnify the delivering part of Salvation; Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor ſuffer thine Holy One to ſee Corruption: I ſay, he conſiders this as well as the Joy which followed thereon: which yet alſo follows there, v. 11. Thou wilt ſhew me the Path of Life. In thy preſence is fulneſs of Joy; at thy right hand there are Pleaſures for evermore. He reckons up both, as two diſtinct parts of Favour ſhewn in that Salvation of his, which is both the Cauſe and Patern of ours. And that it was to bleſs God for both theſe, which he thus diſtinctly and apart mentions, his Preface to both, v. 7. I will bleſs the Lord, &c. ſhews. Thus as Man. And there is this further evidence of it, That look as what any one exerciſeth Faith for, and prays for much afore it is obtained, that proportionably he is thankful for after. And the ſame is ſeen in Chriſt in this very particular. For as we read in that Pſalm, that he exerciſed Faith for this Deliverance as well as for that Glory: So in like manner, Heb. 5. 7. That he offered up Prayers and Supplications, with ſtrong crying and tears, unto him that was able [to ſave] him from Death, and was heard in what he feared. And hence it came to paſs, that we find him after his Deliverance ſo greatly bleſſing God for it. So you read of his praiſing God for the ſame, in Pſal. 22. from v. 2. to the end, and in expreſs words, v. 25. even as well as you may read his Prayer for this Deliverance in the former part of that Pſalm.
If He, who (but for us and our ſakes) needed no deliverance; then how much more lies this upon us, the Perſons ſaved, and unable to ſave our ſelves, diſtinctly to remember both theſe parts of our Salvation with infinite Praiſe and Bleſſing of God's great Name? Bleſs the Lord, O my Soul; and all that is within me bleſs his holy Name, and forget not all (that is, not any of) his Benefits, ſays the Pſalmiſt in his own Perſon, Pſal. 103. 1, 2. And what ſort of Benefits were they? it follows ver. 3, 4. Who forgiveth all thine Iniquities; Who redeemeth thy Life from Deſtruction; there is Salvation from Sin and Hell, the privative part: Who crowneth thee with Loving-kindneſs and tender Mercies, (over and above deliverance) and ſatisfieth thy mouth with good things; there you ſee alſo is the poſitive part. You might obſerve the very ſame in this 49. Pſalm, Thou ſhalt redeem me, &c. and, Thou ſhalt receive me.
By all that hath been ſpoken (although you are ſaved from it, yet) look down into Hell a little, as it hath been ſet out to you; And think with your ſelves, Hath God delivered me from ſo great a Death, and given me ſuch a deliverance as this, from a death ſo dreadful and eternal alſo? How would the Devils and Spirits in Priſon prize an eſcape and deliverance from Wrath preſent and to come, if they could be ſuppoſed capable thereof; yea, if they had no more? A Nobleman or Favourite that hath run into great and high Treaſons, to have but meer Life given him, how would he value it, though he never ſaw the Court more, nor were never reſtored unto his Eſtate and Dignities, had he but wherewithal to live? If a Man were in danger to be drowned, and a Rope were thrown him and a Crown, and bidden take his choice; with promiſe, Thou ſhalt be King of all the World, if thou come to ſhore ſafe with the Crown on thy Head: of the two he would in this caſe take hold of the Rope, and refuſe the Crown. And why? becauſe it is Salvation and his Life. But for a Man to be both waſted ſafe to ſhore, and then arriving there, to have this Crown beſides! how great Salvation would this be valued, ſtupendous Grace and Love!
Theſe things the Saints ſhould conſider chiefly unto two ends and purpoſes;
1. To be thankful to God and Chriſt.
2. To comfort their own Souls.
I. To be thankful both to God and Chriſt.
1. To God the Father. It was his part to contrive the whole deſign of our Salvation, to the end to ſet forth his Love to us. And the Scripture ſpreads afore us the Love of the Father herein upon this double conſideration; 1. That he appointed us not to Wrath, (which otherwiſe we ſhould have in the iſſue and execution, by reaſon of Sin fallen under.) 2. That he ordained us to Salvation. You have an expreſs Scripture for both theſe, ſetting forth the Love of God the Father hereby; 1 Theſſ. 5. 9. God hath not appointed us to Wrath, but to obtain Salvation. Here are firſt, two parts of the Mercy vouchſafed, 1. Deliverance from Wrath. 2. Salvation. Then the Love of the Father in his not appointing us to Wrath, (and ſo not to leave us under it) as well as appointing us to Salvation; and both as appointments of God, the one as well as the other.
And then in the ſecond Epiſtle, chap. 2. ver. 13. he provokes them unto thankfulneſs for this; But we are bound to give thanks always unto God for you, who hath from the beginning choſen you unto Salvation, through Sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the Truth: which he ſpeaks with reference to what was done to others, (ver. 12. compared.) Let me ſpeak to you then in the Apoſtles Language; Oh what thanks are your ſelves then bound (if the Apoſtle gave them for others) to give unto God for your ſelves, to whom God hath given Faith and Holineſs, upon both theſe reſpects?
2. To Jeſus Chriſt, for that hand which he had in this our Deliverance from Wrath: thus expreſly, 1 Theſſ. 1. ult. Ye wait for his Son from Heaven, even Jeſus, who delivered us from the Wrath to come. Here again you have theſe two parts of Salvation ſet together. 1. His coming from Heaven, which they waited for, with hopes of his carrying them thither, as he tells them chap. 4. ver. 17. We ſhall be caught up to meet the Lord in the Air; and ſo ſhall we ever be with the Lord. Then 2. (which the Apoſtle adds with an Emphaſis) even Jeſus, who delivered us from the Wrath to come. Take in that too, ſays he, and forget it not, to endear your Jeſus to you: and for ever know him by this Character, [It is that Jeſus who delivered you from the VVrath to come.] It was the Fathers work indeed to appoint and ordain this Deliverance, and us unto the benefit of it through Faith; but it was our Jeſus, his Son's work, to effect and accompliſh it; 'twas his Soul that paid for all.
And the manner or way how he delivered us from this Wrath, heightens this his Love yet more; for he delivered us from it by being made himſelf a Curſe for us, Gal. 3. 23.
The ſecond thing I propounded was, To comfort your Souls in the conſideration of this Salvation and Deliverance. Thus Chriſt, Pſal. 16. 9, 10. for his deliverance, Therefore [my Heart is glad] my Fleſh alſo ſhall reſt in hope; for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, thou wilt ſhew me the path of Life, &c. And David in the 49. Pſalm, which led on to this, doth comfort himſelf alſo ver. 15. when of wicked Men he had ſaid, Like Sheep they are put into Hell, (as ſome read it) Death ſhall feed on them: He then for his own particular comforts himſelf with this, But God ſhall redeem my Soul from the power of Hell, for he ſhall receive me. And the Apoſtle to the Theſſalonians, epiſt. 1. chap. 5. having ver. 9. ſet before them (as was afore opened) that God had not appointed them to Wrath, but to obtain Salvation, he ſubjoins, ver. 11. Wherefore comfort your ſelves together.
FINIS.
An Immediate STATE OF GLORY FOR THE Spirits of Juſt Men upon Diſſolution, DEMONSTRATED.
BY THO. GOODWIN, D. D.
LONDON; Printed for Jonathan Robinſon, at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard. 1680.