The Dead Prophet Yet Speaking, Text
Zachariah 1. ver. 5.
Your Fathers where are they? and the Prophets do they live for ever?
'TIS an unexpected Providence, and undeſired that hath brought me into this Aſſembly, and put me upon this Service. A very Dear Brother, upon whom this Work lay, earneſtly deſired me to do it for him, he being neceſſitated to be elſewhere, and I could not well deny him. Yet little did I imagine that the laſt time your Reverend Deceaſed Paſtor and my ſelf were together in another place, and familiarly diſcourſing each with other, that it would fall to my Lot to Preach his Funeral Sermon. But the Holy Wiſe Providence of God hath ſo brought it about, that I muſt do him this laſt Office of Love, which may the Great God in whoſe Hands are all our Lives, all our Times, by his Holy Spirit make uſeful and beneficial to your Souls!
Your Fathers where are they? and the Prophets do they live for ever?
Theſe words were ſpoken by the Prophet Zachary. We read in Scripture of three Zachary's.
1. There was Zachariah the Son of that good High-Prieſt Jehojada, Murdered by his Unnatural and Ungrateful Kinſman, Joaſh King of Judah, who ill requited his Father that ſav'd his Life, by taking away that of his Godly and Zealous Son. You may read the Story, 2 Chon. 24.21. But this was not our Prophet, he was Stoned to death about four hundred and twenty one years before the Son of Iddo Propheſied.
2. There was Zachariah the Father of John the Baptiſt; but he liv'd about four hundred years after our Zachary.
3. There was Zachary the Son of Barachias, the Son of Iddo. Iddo his Grandfather return'd from the Captivity of Babylon with Zerubbabel, Nehemiah 12.4. The Jewiſh Rabbins ſay, That where the Father and Grandfather of a Prophet are mentioned in Scripture, it denotes they were alſo Prophets.
It was a great Honour to the Family of the Piſo's at Rome that for three Generations ſucceſſively they had been Princes of the Senate. And 'twas a very great Honour to Zachary that his Father and Grandfather had been Prophets before him. The Spirit of Prophecy ſeemed to run in his Blood, and the Prophetical Office to be entail'd upon him as an Inheritance: Yet did he excel his Fathers in true Honour. If they liv'd Prophets ſo did he alſo. They liv'd Prophets, but he liv'd a Prophet, and dy'd a Martyr. He was ſlain by his ungodly Countreymen for his free Rebuking of their ſins, between the Temple and the Altar, whither he fled for Sanctuary. No place ſo Holy, no perſon ſo Sacred but the wicked will profane and violate in purſuit of their Brutiſh Luſts and Malice, Matth. 23.35.
How long he Propheſied is not certain; when he began to Prophecy the firſt verſe of this Chapter tells us. It was in the eighth Month, in the ſecond year of Darius (Nothus.) He was contemporary with Haggai the Prophet, who began his Miniſtry but two Months before him. See Hag. 1.1.
The parts of his Prophecy are four.
1. Doctrinal, in the ſix firſt verſes of this Chapter.
2. Viſional, from the ſeventh verſe to the end of the ſixth Chapter.
3. Caſuiſtical, in the ſeventh and eighth Chapters.
4. Laſtly, Purely Prophetical, from thence to the end of his Book.
The Text is fallen under the firſt Head. In which we have,
1. The time of his Prophecy, two Months after his Colleague in the ſame Work and Miniſtry, Haggai. Haggai begins in the ſixth Month of the ſecond year of King Darius. Zachary follows him in the ſame Work and Office two Months after. God keeps an exact & faithful Regiſter of all the Miniſters he ſends, & of all their Sermons, he orders them Preach unto a people, and of the times and to places when and where, and of the beginning, duration and continuance of their Miniſterial Labours among them. Look to it Sirs, you may take no notice of this: You may forget when, and where, and whom you heard. But ſo doth not God. He Records all in his Book of Remembrance, and you ſhall be accountable for it another day.
O that you may be able to yield up your Accounts with Joy, and not with Sorrow!
2. We have the ſubject matter of his Sermon. And there lye before us but brief Heads, ſhort Minutes of it, and we ſhall as briefly run them over.
1. In the ſecond verſe we have a Narration of God's juſt anger againſt their Anceſtors. The Lord hath been ſore diſpleaſed with your Fathers.
2. In the third and fourth verſes, we have God's ſummons unto their Children for Repentance, Converſion and Reformation. Therefore ſay thou unto them, Thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, turn ye unto me, ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, and I will turn unto you, ſaith the Lord of Hoſts. Be ye not as your Fathers, unto whom the former Prophets have cried, ſaying, Thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts, turn you now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings, but they did not hear nor hearken unto me, ſaith the Lord.
3. In our Text we have a Dialogue (for ſo many Expoſitors read it) between the Prophet and his wicked Auditory.
1. The Prophet firſt Queries. Where are your ungodly Fathers? What's become of them? Did not God's Vengeance light upon them, as he had threatned them? They would not believe, nor obey, but rebell'd againſt his Word ſpoken to them by former Prophets; yet did they feel the Verity and Majeſty, the Truth and terrible Power thereof in their own perſons; for were they not cut off by Deaths? Whence by the way note,
That Judgments upon the Fathers do not always work Repentance and Reformation in the Children; they be as bad as they.
2. We have his Auditory's reply, by way of Expoſtulation with the Prophet. And you Sir! pray! Where are the Prophets? Do they live for ever? You throw in our Teeth the death of our Anceſtors, and we will alſo as juſtly retort upon you, What is become of thoſe buſie, cenſorious Fellows their Prophets? Are not they gone to their long Home? You ſee God's Judgments Doctrinal and Providential on the Parents do find the Children bad, and leave them worſe, greater Atheiſts and Deſpiſers of God, his Word, and Miniſters than themſelves.
But tho' the Text may be thus read Dialogue-wiſe, yet I humbly conceive, It is an Argument urg'd by the Prophet to inforce his Doctrine, aſſerted before in the third and fourth verſes. Your Fathers where, are they ? And the Prophets do they live for ever? This double Interrogation muſt be anſwer'd negatively. No; your Fathers are not. Your Prophets are not. They do not live here for ever. They be dead. But tho' they die, yet the Word of God, preached by your Prophets, that dieth not, it liveth and will live, and take hold of all ſtubborn, unbelieving and diſobedient ſinners. As verſe 6.
Whence obſerve theſe two Points of Doctrine.
Doctrine I. That Ʋngodly Perſons and Godly Miniſters are all alike Mortal Creatures.
Doctrine II. Tho' Miniſters die, yet God's Word from their Mouths never dieth, it lives for ever.
Tho' theſe Points ſhall be opened diſtinctly, yet I ſhall apply them jointly, in caſe time do permit us.
Doct. I. Ʋngodly Perſons and Godly Miniſters are all alike Mortal Creatures.
I need not ſtand to prove this Point, 'twere but to abuſe your time and patience. Who needs a Candle to ſee the Sun at Noonday? The truth of the Doctrine is viſible, and notorious to all the World. Eccleſ. 8.8. There is no Man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death : And there is no diſcharge in that War; neither ſhall wickedneſs deliver thoſe that are given to it. Beſides, there are in both the Godly and Ungodly, the Natural and Moral Cauſes of Mortality, this is alſo undeniable. The matter of our Bodies is made up of contrary humours and qualities; and when their Balance is turn'd, their Temperament broken, the whole Frame and Compages muſt be diſſolv'd, and moulder into duſt: Beſides, ſin is in the beſt, and its wages is death. 'Tis appointed to all Men, to the worſt, and to the beſt once to die, and then to Judgment.
But yet there is a vaſt difference between the Wicked and the Godly in their death. We ſee that Wiſe-men die, likewiſe the Fool, and the brutiſh perſon periſh. But dieth Abner as a Fool? The Saint as the Sinner? No; The two Poles are not at a greater diſtance than theſe are in their deaths. That wretched South-ſayer will aſſure you of it. He, who never cared to live as the Saint, is yet afraid to die as the Sinner, Numb. 23.10. Let me die the death of the Righteous! and let my laſt end be like unto his.
Queſt. But wherein lyes the difference?
Anſ. 1. The one dieth in his ſins, and in his infidelity and impenitency, without a Pardon. His own iniquities ſhall take the wicked himſelf, Prov. 5.2 23.and he ſhall be holden with the Cords of his ſins. Sins ſhall Arreſt the dying ſinner as ſo many Bayliffts and Serjeants, and drag him as a Priſoner to God's Tribunal. He ſhall be Fetter'd, Hamper'd, and Manacled by them, ſo that tho' he would fain (as it may be no wicked man would willingly be found in his ſins in the hour of death, but) be rid of them, yet he ſhall not. For ſin as an Officer or Bayliff will keep his Priſoner. He ſhall die without Inſtruction, without Converſion, in all his filth and guilt, and be ſo hurried unto the Bar of Chriſt. Oh! how uncomfortable muſt this needs be unto the ſinner! But ſo doth not the Saint die. None of God's Elect but are either ſooner or later, ſometime in their life, and before death, either at the ſixth hour in the dawn of their Youth, or at the ninth in the Flower of their Strength, or at the eleventh the laſt Hour of their Life effectually called, and ſavingly converted.
2. The Saints are in Life and Death united unto Chriſt. He is their Head, they his Members, he their Root, they his Branches, and the Axe of Death cannot ſunder nor ſever between them. Nay Death befriends them, it carries them into Paradiſe. It uſhers them into the Bride-chamber, it brings them unto the deſire of their Souls, with whom they long to be, and ſhall be for ever. Them that ſleep in Jeſus God wilt bring with Jeſus. The Angels carried the Soul of Lazarus into Abraham's, Boſom, into the preſence of God where is fulneſs of Joy, and Rivers of Pleaſure for evermore. But the wicked are buried in Death. They never had any Union with Chriſt living, nor ſhall they when they are dying. They go like Judas unto their own place, Acts 1.25. far enough from Chriſt, Heaven and Glory. No ſooner is Dives dead, but the next news you read of him is that he is in Hell tormented, Luke 16.23.
3. The one dieth as to his Soul, and Everlaſting Concerns, ſtupid and ſenſleſs, as Nabal whoſe Heart grew dead as a ſtone in him, 1 Sam. 25.37. Their Spiritual Lethargy kills them. The injudicious World ſay indeed of the ſinner, O! how quietly did he die! He ſlipt away like a Lamb. He had no pangs in his Death. He was not in bitterneſs of Spirit as many others. But this is an horrible miſtake. Senſleſneſs is no quietneſs, ſtupidity of Conſcience is not true ſerenity. True tranquillity of Soul in death flows from the ſence of God's Love, who is reconciled to us in the Blood of Jeſus; and this none but Saints have, who have laid hold of it by Faith, and ran to it under diſtreſs of Soul as to their only City of Refuge, Glorious high Throne, Heavenly and Inviolable Sanctuary.
Queſt. But you will ask of me, Have all God's Saints this inward peace upon their Death-beds?
Anſw. 1. No wicked Man hath it at all. If the Child of God has it not, no Child of the Devil hath it. Through fancy and ſelf flattery, he may think he has it, and ſo dream himſelf into a Fools Paradiſe; but the firſt and next moment after death undeceives him, for then he finds himſelf in the midſt, in the very Belly of Hell. There is no peace, ſaith my God, unto the wicked.
2. Multitudes of Godly Perſons have it, tho' many other's as truely Godly want it, and die away without it. God's Holy Spirit is a free Agent, and as the wind blows where he liſteth, ſo he ſeals and comforts when and whom he pleaſeth. Our bleſſed Martyr Mr. Glover met with the Comforter at the ſtake, and cryed out unto his Man, Auſtin, He is come! He is come! The Comforter whom I waited for he is come! St. Stephen when he was condemned was ſo raviſhed with Divine Joys, ſo that in the midſt of a ſhower of ſtones which brained him to death, he could joyfully commend his Soul into the Hands of Chriſt, and died praying like his Saviour for his Perſecutors and Murderers, Acts 7.55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60.
3. 'Tis a moſt happy miſtake for thoſe poor Saints, who die fearing their Damnation, and yet the next inſtant after death find themſelves as Elijah in the Arms of bleſſed Angels, riding poſt in thoſe flying Chariots to Glory. O! my Dear Friends, may you and I be ſo happily miſtaken! A Godly Miniſter upon his Death-bed laught aloud, and being demanded the reaſon of it, anſwered, I am thinking, ſaith he, how my Bleſſed Father will be ſurprized to ſee me in Heaven, whom he once gave over for a Reprobate in Earth, and loſt for ever. So will the fearful, deſponding Saints be happily miſtaken of himſelf, and cry out as Jonas, Out of the Belly of Hell have I cryed, and thou heardeſt my voice. Thou hadſt caſt me into the deep, into the midſt of the Seas, the Floods of wrath compaſſed me, all thy Billows and Waves paſſed over me: I was caſt out of thy ſight, but thou haſt made me to look, again toward thy Holy Temple, O! my God, thou haſt brought up my Soul from the bottomleſs Pit of deſtruction, Jonah, 2.3, 4, 5, &c. I thought I ſhould be damned, but through rich Grace I am now ſaved.
4. Sometimes the wicked die under Horrors and Terrors, deſpairing of Mercy, their confidence is rooted out of their Tabernacle, and they be brought unto the King of Terrors, Job 18.14. What think you of Cain roaring out, Mine iniquities are more than can be forgiven! And my puniſhment greater than can be born! What think you of Saul ſadly groaning? O! Miſerable that I am, God hath forſaken me, and the Devil will have me; this day I and my Sons ſhall be with him in Hell! What, think ye of Judas? I have ſinned! I have ſinned! in betraying my Maſter. He that is the Saviour of the World will be my Judge, and Damn me! His Innocent Blood that reconciles Believers, is like Abel's to me, crying, Wrath! wrath! Eternal vengeance upon me! What think you of the Sodomites, who paſt out of one Hell into another? O! the frights and ſcrieches of thoſe filthy ſinners, burning in their Luſts, and running from the fiery Streams, and flaming Torrents of Divine Wrath! What think you of the Giants of the old World, howling and yelling under the deluges of God's Vengeance! Job 26.5. What think you of Korah, and his Schiſmatical and Rebellious Grew? Had they peace, confidence and comfort, when the Earth opened her Mouth, and ſwallow'd them up quick, and they went down alive into the Pit of Hell? Their cries and lamentations frighted all Iſrael in ſuch a manner, that they fled from them, fearing leſt they ſhould be engulpht in their deſtruction, Numb. 16.31, 32, 33, 34.
But poſſibly you will ſay theſe were extraordinary Judgments from Heaven, and ſo no Rules for us to walk by. Wherefore to ſilence all queries and clamours for the future, pray do but read and conſider attentively what the Holy Ghoſt ſaith, Prov. 14.32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedneſs; driven away, how? As with a Tempeſt and a furious Whirlwind; before your Pots can feel the Thorns, the burning wrath of God ſhall take them away one by one with a ſudden deſtruction, they ſhall go down to Hell alive, quick into the Pit: But the Righteous hath hope in his death.
And ſo much for Explication and Confirmation of the Doctrine; let's ſubjoin a word of Application.
Ʋſe 1. Do the Prophets and Godly Miniſters as well as their ungodly Hearers die? Then a Wicked People ſhall not be long bleſt with their Perſons, and Preachings, with their Company and Labours. For, 1. They be too good for them. The World is not worthy of them. The unkind World cries out, Take away ſuch Fellows! They be not fit to live in it! Acts 22.22. And God ſaith ſo too, but in another ſence, The World is not worthy of them, they be too good for Earth, they be Ripe for Heaven, meet and fit to be partakers of an Inheritance with God's Saints in Glory. Thoſe famous Witneſſes (Rev. 11.10, 11, 12.) that the World deſpiſed for their Sackcloth and Poverty, and hated for their Doctrine and Propheſie, and rejoiced at their Death and Calamity, ſending Gifts to one another, and Feaſting each other becauſe theſe their Tormentors were now dead, (tho' yet 'twas but a civil death, a Bartholomew Act, that diſabled them from their Work, which was their Life,) yet the voice of God bids them in the ſight and hearing of their very Enemies, to come up unto him into Heaven. Come up hither, my dear Saints! my faithful Witneſſes! Come up unto your God in Glory. The World is weary of you. That Dunghil is not worthy to have you. Come up unto your God in Glory!
2. As ſoon as their Work is done God will call them home. After Work Reſt, after Labour VVages. There remaineth a Reſt, an Everlaſting Sabbatiſm for God's Saints. VVe have a little Type and Shadow, a poor Picture-pledge and Earneſt of it in this holy day of reſt. O! but when all our VVork is done, then an Eternal reſt, then God will call upon his Servants, Come enter into your Reſt, into your Maſter's Joy, my dear Saints! There is a Twofold VVork that God's Miniſters have to do.
1. A VVork of Conviction and Condemnation. This is a very ſad, burdenſome and uncomfortable VVork, that inſtead of Preaching Souls out of their ſins, we ſhall only ſhew them to them, make them ſee them, but not leave them. Our Sermons ſhall awaken and ſtartle them, but not renew nor reform them, we ſhall give them a Piſgah view of Heaven, but they ſhall nevertheleſs, becauſe of their unbelief never enter into it. To ſome we ſhall be the ſavour of death unto death. They ſhall be convinced of their ſins, hardned in their ſins, and by thoſe ſelf-ſame Sermons condemned for their ſins. Noah that Preacher of Righteouſneſs did thus convince and condemn the old World, Heb. 11.7. O! Sirs, it affrights me to think I ſhould Preach any of you into Hell, and that my ſelf and Sermons ſhould witneſs to your condemnation in the laſt day.
2. There is a Work of Converſion and Edification God ſometimes ſends us about this Work, this is pleaſing, delightful, and exceeding comfortable. Go, ſaith God to Paul and preach at Corinth, for I have much people there, Acts 18.10. Seedſman! ſaith Chriſt unto his Miniſter, go ſcatter the good Seed of my Word in ſuch a Soyl, and it ſhall yield thirty, ſixty, and an hundred fold. Fiſherman! let down thy Net in yonder Pool, and thou ſhalt take many a Fiſh, a multitude of precious Souls. O! Sirs, if we can but gain you to Chriſt, and as his Ambaſſadors reconcile you to God, we have our ends, we have done our Work, our Maſters Work, to our great Joy and Conſolation. Now when we have done this Work, fill'd up our number of Converts, as Spiritual Fathers begotten many a Child for God, and built them up in Faith and Holineſs, we ſhall hear our Great Lord ſay unto us, Well done, good and faithful Servants, enter into your Maſters Joy.
3. The ſins of their Hearers, of their people, do oftentimes ſhorten the days of their Miniſters, and many Churches are real Murderers of their moſt Faithful Paſtors.
You will ſay poſſibly this is an hard word, and who can bear it? How do Churches Murder their Miniſters? Why Sirs, 1. Not only by exacting Work from them above their Ability; 2. Nor only by denying them due incouragement, and a competency for their ſubſiſtance; Nor yet, 3. By downright killing of them in Perſecution, as both the Zachary's were, and an infinite number of other Faithful Prophets of the Lord were. But, 4. By your ſins. The ſins of the Hearers are our Murderers.
But what ſins? I anſwer, 1. Your Non-proficiency by our Miniſtry. You be God's Huſbandry, and Garden, we are to Manure and Dreſs you; you be God's Building and Temple we are to repair, beautifie and adorn you. 'Twas ſaid of Auguſtus Caeſar, that he found Rome Brick, but left it Marble. O! what a comfort will it be to our Souls to have found you Earthly, and left you Heavenly! To have found you Sinners, and leave you Saints! We have digg'd about you, we have manur'd and dreſt you, ſtudied for you, preached to you, admoniſhed you in publick and private, and what? Shall we have labour'd in vain? When you have been a ſleeping in your Beds, and Sins at midnight, poſſibly your Faithful Miniſters have been upon their Knees weeping and mourning for you, ſtrugling and wreſtling with God in Fervent Prayers for your Souls; and ſhall all theſe Pains and Labours be loſt? Shall we Meditate and Study, Preach and ſpend our Spirits in Prayer in vain, and not for your good? Shall the Lord ſay unto us as to Moſes in another caſe, Speak to me no more, move me no more in this matter for theſe Souls, for theſe Sinners? They be Reprobate Silver, droſs and loſt Creatures, whom the Lord hath rejected for their unprofitableneſs under all the Means of Grace? Brethren, this cutts us to the quick, and helps to break our Heart. Your Eternal Happineſs would be our Life: The fear of your being undone Eternally is as death unto us, it is killing to us.
2. The Pragmaticalneſs of Church-members, who take upon them to contradict and controul their Miniſters. Prepoſterous courſes! God hath made us Teachers and our People will teach their Inſtructors! God hath made us Guides and Lights unto you in the way to Heaven but pragmatical Hearers take upon them Magiſterially enough to direct, dictate, and preſcribe unto their Miniſters, what Doctrine they ſhall Preach, and what not. The Lord takes notice of theſe by the Prophet, Iſa. 30.8, 9, 10, 11. Now go, write it before them in a Table, note it in a Book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever. That this is a Rebellious people, lying Children, Children that will not hear the Word of the Lord; which ſay to the Seers, ſee not, and to the Prophets propheſie not right things unto us, ſpeak unto us ſmooth things, propheſie deceits. When a Godly Miniſter had preach'd of Hell unto his Pariſhioners, a great Lady takes him up ſharply enough. What! Do not you know that my Lord cann't indure to hear ſpeak of death, and are you ſo unwiſe as to preach of the Torments of Hell unto him? Pray learn more wit next, and deliver in publick a Doctrine that ſhall be more edifying and pleaſing to him! Again, Chriſt hath made us by vertue of our Paſtoral Office Rulers in the Houſe of God, and committed the Keys of Doctrine and Diſcipline to us; but ſorry Mechanicks take upon them to over-rule and correct their Paſtors. We be Watchers for your Souls, and ſome watch for our failings. Jeſus Chriſt hath poſitively commanded you, Heb. 13 7. to remember them which have the rule over you, who have ſpoken to you the Word of God, to follow their Faith, conſidering the end of their Converſation: And again, Obey them that have the Rule over you, and ſubmit your ſelves, for they watch for your Souls, as they that muſt give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you. And 1 Tim. 5.17. Let the Elders that Rule well be counted worthy of double honour, eſpecially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine. I'll not meddle with that Controverſie, whether in the Church there be ſuch an Officer diſtinct from the Paſtor, as the Ruling Elder, I have told my poor thoughts about it elſewhere, 'tis certain the Paſtor is a Ruler in the Church of God, no Civil Officer, he is a Spiritual Officer, not a Magiſtrate but a Miniſter, we Preach our ſelves your Servants for Chriſt's ſake; we are not the Lord's of your Faith, but the Helpers of your Joy, our Miniſtery is not a Saecular Magiſtracy. But tho' we be Spiritual Fathers, your Shepherds, and Elders in Office in the Houſe of God, who are more ſlighted, diſeſteemed and diſobeyed? So far are Church-members from giving their Paſtors their double, that they deny them their ſingle Honour. Brethren, the honour of our Miniſtery and Office muſt be vindicated. We have received it for your Edification. We encroach not upon your juſt Liberties, but take you heed of invading ours, of overthrowing God's eſtabliſht Mound, and ancient Landmarks. That Eminent Godly Miniſter of the Lord Jeſus, old Mr. Wilſon of Boſton in New-England called this ſin Koraiſm. For lying upon his Deathbed, and being viſited by the Preaching Elders of that Famous Colony, they deſired that he would ſolemnly declare unto them what he conceived were thoſe ſins which provoked the diſpleaſure of God againſt the Countrey, he then told them, That among others, Corahiſm was none of the leaſt, which he thus explained, When people riſe up as Corah againſt their Miniſters or Elders, as if they took, too much upon them, when indeed they do but rule for Chriſt, and according to Chriſt; yet ſaid he, 'tis nothing for a Brother to ſtand up, and oppoſe without Scripture or Reaſon the Doctrine and Word of the Elder, ſaying, I am not ſatisfied. Oh! what a ſad account ſhall we give of ſuch Children, Sheep, and Members of ours unto the Lord Jeſus? when in the day of Judgment we ſhall be askt by him (for we muſt give an account as for our ſelves ſo for you alſo.) How fare my Sheep committed to your Care and Charge in yonder Wilderneſs? How did you leave them, when you left the World? My Brethren, what anſwer do you think we ſhall return unto our Lord and Judge concerning you? We tremble to think the truth, the ſad truth we muſt then relate unto him, of the Pride and Self-conceitedneſs, of the Stubbornneſs, Perverſeneſs, and Untractableneſs, of the Unbelief and Diſobedience of a multitude of our Hearers and Church-Members. I ſpeak it Brethren with Tears, that I fear we ſhall cry as the Prophet did, Lord! who hath believed our report? Iſa. 53.1. Chap. 65.2.And to whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed? And all the day long have we ſtretched out our hands to a Gain ſaying and Rebellious People. They have deſpiſed both our Perſons and Doctrine. As ſoon as negligent Hearers are admoniſhed by us of their Duty, and delinquent Members reproved by us for their ſins, they fly in our Faces, leave our Communion, rail at us and revile us, vomiting out the worſt of Lies againſt us, as if we were the worſt of Men. To whom ſhall we ſpeak, and give warning that they may hear? Behold their Ear is uncircumciſed, Jer. 6.10.and they cannot hearken: Behold the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. I know this hath ſate near the Hearts of ſeveral of God's Miniſters, both formerly and of later times, and filled them with unſpeakable grief to the ſhortning of their days. If you ſtand faſt in God, and the practice of Godlineſs we live, we have the end and deſign, and deſire of our Life; for this we wiſh and labour for, even your perfection. Our Hearts Deſire and Prayer is that you may be ſaved: And we preach, warning every Man, and teaching every Man in all Wiſdom, that we may preſent every Man perfect in Chriſt Jeſus. But if inſtead of this, you will retain your old ſins, and ſlight our Counſels, and render our poor Labours ineffectual and unſucceſsful, tho' this will pierce our Souls to the quick, and over-whelm us with grief to the ſhortning of our Lives, yet let me be bold to tell you, ſuch wicked ones ſhall anſwer for it unto the Supream Judge, and the Judge is now at the Door.
Ʋſe 2. Are Godly Miniſters Mortal Creatures? Then ſerve your ſelves of them whilſt you have them. Jeſus Chriſt hath given us to you for the ſervice of your Souls. As I ſaid but now, ſo I repeat it again; we preach our ſelves your Servants for Chriſt's ſake; make uſe of us then for your Souls good. God hath tinded us up poor Lamps, poor Candles in the Golden Candleſticks of our Churches, receive Light, and Heavenly Inſtruction from us. We deſire to guide you by the Divine Councils, and to feed you with the Coeleſtial Manna, and do bring unto you the beſt news in the World, the glad-tydings of Salvation. O! let our Perſons, our Meſſage be acceptable to you. How beautiful are the Feet of them that publiſh the glad-tydings of Salvation? You ſhould ſay unto us as Laban did to Abraham's Servant, (for we come unto you upon the like Errand to Eſpouſe and Marry you unto Chriſt) Come in, ye bleſſed of the Lord, wherefore ſtand you without? When the Jeſuites firſt came into Portugal, they were called the Apoſtles of Portugal, and entertained with all imaginable honour. Strange! that a Crew of ſelf-ſeeking, and deceiving Idolaters ſhould be careſſed and Embraced, and the Ambaſſadors of Chriſt ſtand waiting, and weeping without, at your Doors. We are, Sirs, Chriſts Ambaſſadors, and we come upon this Errand to you, and beſeech you to liſten to it, to reconcile you unto God. You are by nature his Enemies, and 'tis very dangerous for you. O! become his Friends. Be you reconciled unto God. And the rather do this, becauſe you ſhall not have us always with you. We are Mortal, we are dying now whilſt we are living and preaching to you. My Race is well nigh run, my Work is well nigh finiſhed, the Sands in the Glaſs of my Life are almoſt out. Walk in the Light whilſt you have the Light. The Prophets don't live for ever.
Queſt. But how ſhall we uſe and ſerve our ſelves of our Miniſters?
Anſw. 1. Be ſwift to hear, ſlow to wrath. God hath made us Preachers, and you Hearers, we ſhould not preach to empty Houſes, and naked Walls. Church-members ſhould be ordinarily Hearers of their own Miniſters. Neglect no opportunities that you can conveniently have and ſpare for this Duty. If we are to preach in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon, to be inſtant in Exhortation and Doctrine, you muſt lend us your Ears. Bleſſed are they that watch at Wiſdoms Gates, and wait daily at the Poſts of her Doors.
2. Rejoice in our Light, Doctrine, and Converſation. Herod heard John the Baptiſt with delight. His Perſon and Preaching was very ſweet and pleaſing to him, yea and to the Jews alſo, for he was a burning and ſhining Light, and they rejoiced in his Light for a time, John 5.35.
3. Frequently conſult with your Paſtors in private about your Souls, and your Eſtate to God-ward. When you find inward ſtruglings and perplexities within you as to your Everlaſting condition, do as Rebekah did, go and conſult with God by us. Ask the counſel and mind of God for you from us. There ſhould not be that ſtrangeneſs that is between Paſtor and People, but a ſweet intimacy and holy familiarity as between Children and their Fathers. Come to us with ſuch queſtions as theſe, Oh! Sirs, What ſhall we do to be ſaved? Is this work that is wrought in me a ſaving or a common work? Inform and direct me, that I may not miſcarry in Converſion, nor be miſtaken as to my Right and Title to Heaven and Glory.
4. Never let us go out of your Houſes without leaving our bleſſing with you. The old Puritans would not let their Paſtors go without praying with them, and praying for them.
Ʋſe 3. Are Godly Miniſters and Ungodly Hearers both all alike dying Creatures? Then look to it, that you be not number'd in your Deaths with Godleſs Hearers. O! ſaith Balaam, Let me die the death of the Righteous, and my latter end like unto theirs! A young Man ſeeing the happy end of St. Ambroſe Biſhop of Millain, turning to his Boon Companions, I would, ſaid he, fain live with you, but die with Ambroſe. There had been ſome picks and quarrels between Maccovius Profeſſor of Divinity at Franequer in Friſeland, and our Pious Learned Ames, which made our Reverend Countryman to quit that Univerſity: But when Maccovius heard of his death, he cries out, May my Soul when it leaves this Body be where Bleſſed Dr. Ames is! O! Sirs, 'twill be your happineſs to be with all the Holy Prophets, Apoſtles and Evangeliſts, with the Glorious Company of innumerable Angels, and with the Bleſſed Spirit's of God's Miniſters, thoſe juſt men made perfect. That Bleſſed Society which is in Heaven is the ſweets of Heaven. I ſhall only change my place, not my Company, ſaid dying Dr. Preſton. He left imperfect for perfect Saints. The Communion of Saints in Glory, next to the Eternal Injoyment of God, is the Paradiſe of Heaven. O! Labour for it.
Queſt. But how ſhall we get our ſelves among them in Death?
Anſw. 1. Conſider their Faith, and the end of their Converſation. God hath made your Miniſters your Examples both in Life and Death. Be you Followers of them as they be of Chriſt. Whatſoever things are true, whatſoever things are honeſt, whatſoever things are juſt, whatſoever things are pure, whatſoever things are lovely, whatſoever things are of good report: If there be any vertue, and if there be any praiſe, thinks on theſe things. Thoſe things which ye have both learned and received, and heard, and ſeen in me, do: And the God of peace ſhall be with you.
2. Let not our Sermons be buried with us in our Graves. Let not thoſe hundreds of Sermons you have heard from your two Learned and Faithful Miniſters die with them. Have them always in remembrance. Let them live in your minds and memories, 2 Pet. 1.12, 15.
3. Let our Word, which yet is not our's but God's, ever live in your Hearts and Affections. O! how do I love thy Word! 'tis my Meditation all the day long, ſaid that Royal Prophet, Pſal. 119.97, 103, 113, 127, 140. If you will love and live God's Word, do and practiſe it, you will be guided by the beſt of Counſels, and infallibly brought unto Glory.
4. Let our Sermons be copied out in your Converſations; hold you forth in them the Word of Life unto all that ſee and obſerve you. This renders God's Word on your part, and as much as in you lyeth Immortal, and fitteth you for bleſſed Immortality. Tho' the Preachers die, yet in this manner God's Word never dies, and the Preacher's themſelves will ſeem to be alive. I'le ſhut up all with theſe words of the Apoſtles, 2 Cor. 3.1, 2, 3. Do we begin again to commend our ſelves? Or need we as ſome others Epiſtles of Commendation to you, or Letters of Commendation from you? Ye are our Epiſtle written in our Hearts, known and read of all men: For as much as ye are manifeſtly declared to be the Epiſtle of Chriſt, miniſtred by us, written not with Ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in Tables of Stone, but in Fleſhly Tables of the Heart.
And if you are thus the Epiſtle of Chriſt, and our Miniſtery unto your Souls is the Miniſtery of the Spirit of Life, you may reſt aſſured that Godly Miniſters and Godly Hearers ſhall be as Saul and Jonathan lovely in their Lives, nor ſhall they in Death be divided.
I have done with my Sermon, yet I cannot but ſpeak ſomething of your late Reverend, and now Glorified Paſtor, tho' by reaſon the time is paſt, it will be but very little.
1. He was a Man of ſingular Moderation, and of a very peaceable Spirit. If the Peace-makers are bleſſed, and ſhall be called the Children of God, then Bleſſed is Mr. Faldo, who had an eſpecial hand in the healing of our Breaches, which, Glory be unto God's Holy Name, are to the Mutual Joys of all the Saints now compoſed, and thoſe two great divided Parties in this Nation, and that had been ſo for above Forty years, are now once again United, and become one, and we ſhall no more for the future hear of thoſe unhappy Terms of Diſtinction and Separation, Presbyterian and Independent, but we ſhall be called as the Primitive Church of Antioch by his Name who hath Redeemed us, and Anointed us with his Holy Spirit, even Chriſtians.
2. He was a ſtout Aſſertor of Ancient, Primitive Truths in Doctrine and Worſhip. He contended earneſtly for the Faith once delivered unto the Saints, and was a Zealous Champion for it againſt the Impious Errors, and Damnable Opinions of a Deluded, Seduced Party in this Land. His Learned Labours Polemical with them, Practical and Devotional for the uſe of others do praiſe him in the Gate, and by theſe as Righteous Abel, tho' dead, he yet ſpeaketh.
3. He was a conſtant Labourer, and very painful in his Lord's Vineyard, and the very firſt that entered publickly upon it before the laſt Indulgence by King James the Second. And his Great Maſter found him in his Work. There the Gripes and Stone aſſaulted him, which at laſt killed him. Bleſſed is that Servant, whom when his Lord comes he finds ſo doing!
I cannot but condole your loſs, and the Churches loſs, and pardon theſe Tears, my own particular loſs. I have been ſo unhappy as to looſe in your two Succeſſive Holy and Reverend Paſtors two very Worthy and Dear Friends.
I pray God, my Brethren, that as you had a Learned and Pious Faldo to ſucceed your Bleſſed Mr. Partridge, ſo you may have another; who may Excel them both in Gifts and Graces, in all Miniſterial Indowments, and Paſtoral Abilities.
But my Dear Brethren, ſuch a Paſtor as Reverend Mr. Faldo is Forty years a making.
However, I beſeech you be not too long in making your Choice, and filling up your Vacancy. Either Incorporate with ſome other Church, or call in ſpeedily another Paſtor. There be ſome young Men of great Hopes, of Eminent Parts and Piety that are yet unimployed. If any one ask why they are idle this time a-day, they will reply, Becauſe none hath hired us. Pray get one of them; ſome One may be had.
The Lord, God of Wiſdom Lead, Guide, and Direct you in your way! And give you a Paſtor after his own Heart, that may feed you with Knowledge and Underſtanding! Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Quick, The Dead Prophet Yet Speaking (1691)