34. Mr. G. Evanke's Farewell Sermon

34. Mr. G. Evanke's Farewell Sermon
"Nevertheless not my will, but thy will be done." - Matthew 26:39.
The Subject of this Chapter is a sad Story, and Tragical Relation of a dying Jesus. In the beginning of this Gospel, you may see him coming into the World in a Shower, Matthew 2:13. And now in the end of it, you finde him going out in a Storm, Matthew 27:22.
Alas! that so good a Ghest should find so bad a welcome, and that the Lord of Life should so soon be put to death. When the Angels, those Heavenly Choristers first sang that Christmas Carol, of a Saviour that was born into the World, Luke 2:10-14. one would have thought the World should have fallen a dancing after such Evangelical Musick, and that all hearts should have [like the Babe in Elizabeths womb leapt for joy, at the news of a new born Prince: But it was quite contrary; for instead of joyning in that Heavenly Quire, in gratulating the happy arrival of this young King into their Country; they take the Alarum of his Birth as if an Enemy had landed in their Coasts: And hereupon Herod presently heads an Army; goes out against him, and makes the poor Prince to fly the Country, Matthew 2:13-14.
But though the meanest of his Birth, Extraction, and Descent may give them distaste at first, yet when he begins to display his Divinity among them, by working such amazing Miracles, as none could work, and Preaching such moving Sermons as none could ever Preach: Oh, then they will recant their Error, and own their Saviour, and the joyful shout of a King will be heard amongst them; as it is expressed in Numb. 23:21.
Truly one would think that it would have been thus; but oh no! the Rocky hearts of these Marble wretches would not yield, nor melt, nor thaw, nor take impression, but still they continue in their unbelief and hardness of heart, disowning the Lord that bought them, and consulting his death, who was contriving to bring them to life.
All the displeasure he would have done them, was to take their sins from them, Matthew 11:28. And all the pleasure they meant to shew him was to take his Life from him, Matthew 26:59.
All the hurt that ever Christ did them, was to pray for them, Father forgive them, forgive them. And all the good they ever did him, was to cry, Crucifie him, Crucifie him. And Crucifie him they did before they could sit down.
Whose Death and Crucifixion is described and represented to your view,
1. By the Antecedents, or things before.
2. By the Consequents, or things following after.
The Antecedents were,
1. The several Preparitories to it, Chap.
2. The judicial progress about it, Chap.
The Prerogatives were,
1. The Jews conspiring, ver. 3, 4, 5.
2. Judas his Covenancing to affect it, 14, 15, 16.
3. Christs own preparing and fitting himself for it, that he might without relucting submit to it, and without the least Symptome of disponding, encounter and go thorow with it. And this is the Argument of the latter part of this Chapter at large, and of my Text in short.
Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass from me, yet not my will, but thy will be done.
Which words I may call, the pious Souls sequestring itself for dying: or, Our Saviours Preparatory to his Passion: Wherein you have two Observables.
1. Here's an humble Petition presented, Let this Cup pass.
2. Here's an hearty Resignation promised, Not my will, but thine be done.
I. First, A humble Petition; Let this Cup pass from me. Our Saviour was at this time very apprehensive of Death, The sorrows of the Grave engulfed him about, and the pains of Hell had taken hold upon him: in this dark condition and Spiritual Damp that his Soul lay in, he gets himself out into the Garden alone, and there he fits weeping under the Juniper-tree; and like dying Hezekiah, he lays prostrate, and spreads his Condition before the Lord, imploring him Samaritan-like, to shew him some pity in this his Extremity, Father, saith he, Let this cup pass from me.
Now in that Christ betakes himself to God for help in this hour of heaviness, you may learn hence, It's better to intrust and interest God, for our help and comfort, than man: For man, yea, the best of men, are but men, and when they have done the best for us, it may be they can do no good to us.
When the man (in the Kings) had made his misery known to his Neighbors, and cryed to them, Help, Help, you know what an answer he got, How can we help, except the Lord help?
When Job had told over the sad story of his great losses to his three friends, expecting some redress to so unparalleled grievances, you know how long they sate by him, without giving him one word of Counsel, or administring the least word of Comfort, which forced him into that passionate Resolve, Miserable Comforters are ye all.
When Judas lay under the Convulsions and Corrodings of a grumbling Conscience, and ran to the Priests for Absolution. A look thee to that, was all the comfort he could get from them. Ah! that mans condition is most to be pitied, who runs to none but man for pity. When all is done, God is our surest stay; He is usually the last, but always the best Refuge? Therefore when we have read over the sad Lecture of our Losses, and poured out our wants and wrongs into the bosom of our safest and firmest friends, then is this Apostrophe, this Turn, the sweetest Turn the Soul can take, when it can Turn to God [as you see Christ doth here] & say, Father, if it be possible, let this cup, this cross, pass from me.
II. Secondly, Here's an hearty resignation, in these words, Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And if he had said, 'tis true, it's Ease which this Nature, this Humane Nature of mine would have, but if thou Lord, art otherwise resolv'd to continue me in pain, I have no more to say, but only this, thy will be done.
It was the saying of a good Woman in her Sickness, when askt whether she was willing to live or die, answer'd, I am willing to do whether God pleaseth. But said one, if God should refer it to you, which would you chuse? Truly said she, if God should refer it to me, I should e'n refer it to him again. Here's the picture of Christs patience (drawn here in this Text) where, as you see, he refers to his Fathers pleasure, not my will, but thine be done: Paraphrastically thus; If thou wilt have me suffer a while, lay load on me, and spare not; If I must be spit on thus shamefully, and buffetted thus basely, and that by my own Creatures, whom I could send to Hell with a word speaking if I must climb to the Ladder, and be hung up in Gibbets as a Spectacle of sadness to my Friends, and Object of laughter to my enemies; If it be so that my Honour must lie in the dust, and my Bloud lie in thè dust, and my Sacred Body go to bed with Worms, if it must be thus, let it be thus, and no otherwise than just thus: in a word, if he that never stole anything, unless it were mens sins from them, must now be numbered with Transgressors, and hang'd with Thieves? if the Redemption of the World be so costly, that I cannot hug a poor soul to Heaven with me at a cheaper Rate, I am content to come up to Gods terms, and to buy the life of the Nation though it be with my own death. Thus much is meant in this Expression: Thy will be done.
From which Branch, we may shake this Fruit into your Lap.
Dostr. A gracious soul will endeavour the crossing his own will, when he sees that it crosses Gods. Or thus,
A true Christian dare not [at least ought not] to gratifie his own Humour when it stands in opposition, or cometh in competition with Gods Honour.
In the improvement of which, I shall
1. Premise some Presidents of it.
2 Annex some Reasons to it.
3. Infer some Use from it.
The first President I shall pitch upon is Abraham, Genesis 22, 2. Here God calls Abraham out to very hot service, even to lay the Sacrificing, Knife to the throat of his dear Child. Come, saith God, take thy Son, thy only Son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him up for a Burnt-offering Alas! how many considerations might have stept up into Abrahams head, at this time to have made him refuse obedience to a Command so grievous and ungrateful to flesh and bloud. Alas! Lord, Isaac is my son, the only staffe of my old Age: And if my Son die, it will be enough to bring my gray Hairs with sorrow to the Grave. Nay more, Isaac is my (only) Son, I have none else to keep up my Family, and to preserve my Name in everlasting Remembrance, and if he die, all the hopes I have of a Flourishing Posterity dies with him. Nay more, Isaac is the Son of Promise; In his seed all Nations are to be blessed; Christ the Messiah, is to come of his Life; Sions Deliverer is to spring out of his Race, and if he die, the World for ought I know must want a Saviour, and Israel his Redeemer. Besides, if Isaac must be sacrificed, is there none to lay bloudy hands upon him, but myself? Must an indulgent Father, be his own Childs Executioner? Must I that gave him life, be the cruel Instrument of taking it way? Thus Abraham might have Expostulated the Case with God; But no, no instead of Replying, he falls to Obeying, Genesis 22. ver 3. without either disputing the Justice of Gods Precept, or distrusting the truth of his promise, for he considered, That God was able to raise him up again from the dead, Hebrews 11:19.
See here an eminent piece of Self-denial; his sin must go, his Son must go, anything, yea, everything must go when God calls for it.
It was Abrahams will, and wish too, that Isaac should live; but Abraham would not own his will, when he saw it did not own Gods; and what lost he by it?
Take this Christian, as an Axiome, and put it as an Article into thy Creed, that there's never any loss in obeying God, let the command be never so dangerous, costly, or difficult; the way to keep Isaac, is to give up Isaac, and the way to enjoy thy will, is to deny thy will. The promise is clear, Matthew 19:29.
A second President you have in David, 2 Samuel 15:26. who in that great Cross, his chasing from the Crown, thus expressed himself; Behold here I am, let the Lord do with me as seemeth good in his sight: As if he had said, If the Lord please to change the Nature of my unnatural Son Absalom, who seeks to Usurp the Crown, and Ravish the Kingdom from me, and to settle and re-establish me on the Throne again: If God please thus to honour me, it shall content me; but if he use his Negative Vote, and deny me that mercy, saying, I have no pleasure in thee, I will be content still; Let him do (saith David) what seemeth good in his sight; Not what seems good in my sight, but in his. His will shall be my will, and his pleasure, my delight. See what another self-denying Saint here is, that God and he, should have but one will betwixt them both. If God would favour him, he would be for it; and if God would afflict him, he would not be against it. Which disposition mindeth me of that passion which I have read of Socrates, when a Tyrant threatned him with death, I am willing to dye, Socrates; Nay then, replyed the Tyrant, you shall live against your will; No, said Socrates, whatever you do with me, it shall not be against, but with my will.
O friends, I question whether some of you, who pretend to Grace, may not go to School to this Heathen, who had no other Pilot but Nature, to steer him; Could not the Tyrant, by altering the mans condition, make him to alter his Countenance? and is your condition up and down, as your comforts or discomforts ebb or flow? did natural Qualifications make him quietly submit to Fortune, and shall not Theological considerations make him acquiesce in a Providence? Did the Spring-head of meer Reason, rise so high as Contentation? and shall not Religion, like the waters of the Sanctuary, rise as high? O Christians, lye down at the foot of Gods Mercy, saying, thy will be done.
1. Otherwise you will grieve God.
2. And you will gratifie the Devil.
3. And lastly, you will no way advantage your selves.
Reas. 1. First, I say you will grieve God,* See Hebrews 3:10. Wherefore I was grieved with that Generation, saith God, What Generation was that, which God was thus grieved with? Look but into Exodus 16:8. and you'll finde it was a murmuring Generation, a dissatisfied, and discontented Generation.
It's a grief no doubt to a godly Parent, to see his Child discontented with his allowance, and Esau like, slight his birth-right. Ah! God is not pleased to see his Children displeased; nor contented, to see them discontented; I read in Psalms 35:27. That God takes pleasure in the prosperity of his people: But I nowhere read, that he takes pleasure in the discontent of his people. No no, this passion, drove God himself into a passion against the Jews of old, because, saith he, you have not walk't thankfully before me in the use of my blessings, therefore you shall serve your enemies in hunger and nakedness. Whereas on the other hand, it pleaseth God to see his people truckle under the Cross, and yet content to be ground betwixt the Teeth, and wounded with the Tongues of malicious Neighbors, and yet content: To see and hear the delicious Accents of his dying Martyrs, when in their extreamest tortures, they cryed out nothing but [Holy Jesus, Holy Jesus.]
To see and hear patient Job sitting on his Dung-hill, and bearing his burthen bravely, mingling his Groans with Praises, and justifications of God; this, this please God like an Anthem Sung by Angels, in the morning of the Resurrection, and therefore he hath Crowned him with the Wreath of Glory, In all this Job sinned not.
II. Secondly, By discontent, you gratifie the Devil. When Nero (that he might the better conceive the flames of Troy) had set Rome on fire, he sate down and sang Songs unto it. Oh, the Devil is never so merry, as when he sets us on fire with compassion? Consuming and Smudging our lives away in the smoak of discontent: Such a fire makes the Devil a Bone-fire.
And this was his aim in afflicting! Job, not to make him a poor man, but an impatient man: But he was basely mistaken, for when he expected that Job should have fallen down to blaspheme God, Job on the contrary falls down and blesseth God. The Lord hath [freely] given and [justly] taken away, blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Ah! how black lookt Satan at the fall of the Expression from Jobs lips? How did this gaul and gravel a malicious Devil? Certainly this one word of Jobs, did wound Satan more, than all the afflictions wounded Job.
Ah friends, get but your wills to buckle under the will of God; and in all Overture of condition to acquiesce in a Providence, and this double advantage will come of it, God will have his end, and Satan will miss of his.
III. Thirdly and lastly, you can no way advantage your selves by Discontent, but may disturb your Conscience, and hugely prejudice your own peace. As the Prisoner in Iron hurts himself more by striving to shake them off than the Fetters would do by being on. So many a man, makes the Cross bigger to himself, than ever God made discontent being a greater affliction to him, than the affliction it greater I say, by how much it sits nearer to the Spirit, than any outward crosses do, or can do. I remember what Seneca writes of Caesar, who having appointed a great Feast for his Nobles and Friends, and it falling out that the day proved exceeding foul, even so as nothing could be done; and being extreamly displeased at it, in the height of madness took their Bows, and shot at Jupiter, in defiance of him, but it happened that their Arrows lighting short of Jupiter, fell down upon their own heads, and wounded them mortally. Thus is it in the point in hand, our murmuring, and impatiency are as Arrows shot, not at Jupiter, but at Jehovah, at God himself; hence said Moses, Exodus 16:8. to that Murmuring Generation, Your murmurings are not against us, but against God; which Arrows may wound your selves deeply, but they never hurt God at all; they wound your Consciences with guilt, and your hearts with disquiet, and oft times causeth God to wound you too with punishments, which [if it had not been for your murmurings] he would never have brought upon you.
Miriam murmured, and God smote her with Leprosie. The Israelites murmured, and God sent Serpents among them; they stung God with fierce Tongues, and God stung them with fiery Serpents. Never then let a people murmur against their Maker more, but quietly submit to his
Providential proceedings, lest otherwise by strugling and striving against God, they do but make their bands stronger, and their condition worser; Like the silly Partridge, which by her fluttering breaks her wings, but not the Net: My advice then friends, is this, whenever God binds the Cross upon your backs, or tyes or stakes you down to a sick bed, or any other sad or unseelie condition; since these Cords of his you cannot break, lye down gently, and suffer the hand of the Lord to do what he pleaseth, swallowing down this bitter Pill which he forceth down your throat for the health of your Souls.
I come now to the second thing; Viz. the USES of the Doctrine.
And upon enquiry I finde two sorts of men Reproveable.
1. Those that do their own will.
2. Those that do the Devils will.
First then, it speaks Terror to those that do their own will; such were the Israelites, 2 Samuel 8:5. they would needs have a King to rule over them, this was their will, and their will they would have, although they know it jarr'd, and extreamly interfear'd both with the will of God; and his Prophets, yet still the cry of the Rabble, and the vote of the multitude was this, Nay, but we wil have a King, ver. 19.
The like you see in Rachel, Genesis 30:1. Give me Children, or I dye. Albeit she saw that her Husband could not, and that God would not humour her, yet still she cries, give me Children, or I dye, Willful woman! if thou canst live in pleasure, wilt thou needs dye in a pit? chusing rather to have thy body killed, then thy will cross'd?
This is the case of all Mankind, till Grace work a change, and till God of an unwilling, make us a willing people in the day of his power: Till then, we have a will, which is not only blemisht with an indispesition, but also byass'd with an opposition to Gods; for saith Paul, that Doctor of the Gentiles, Romans 8. It is not subject to the will of God, neither indeed can be. Mark, it is not subject, nor can be subject; what more can be said to abase the natural pride of man? as he hath such a mind as neither understands, nor can understand the things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14. So he hath such a will as neither is subject, nor can be subject, Romans 8. Thus lies fallen man, lost man, degenerated man; thus lies he lockt up in obstinacy, darkness, and unbelief, minding his own things, doing his own will, and damning his own soul, until God spring in, as the Angel did to Peter in prison, and bring him news of his spiritual enlargement out of that dead and damning Estate, to which he had thrown, and enthral'd himself, body and soul, forever.
O thou heavenly Samaritan, that once poured in Wine into the half dead Traveller, draw near, draw near, here's a Church full of souls, not half dead, but wholly dead, their eyes closed they cannot, they cannot see thee, their hearts grown stiff, and cold, and hard, and have no feeling of thee, unless in mercy thou speak a Resurrection word, and make them live again to praise thee: Oh let this be the time of life, Oh let it be a time of love, apply unto their festered sores this saving salve of Christs Bloud, that they putrifie not to death, nor languish in despair; drop into their wounded souls the sharp Wine of thy wrath, search them, and pour in also the supplying Oil of thy tender Mercy to heal them, that so both them and their wills (which further than they are driven will not go) may be brought into a Conformity to thee and thy will.
Secondly, it speaks terror to those that do the Devils will. It was an Indictment which Christ prefer'd against the Jews, and may I fear, too truly be laid to the charge of many Nomical Christians, John 8:44. Yeare of your Father the Devil, and the works of the Devil you will do.
Adam, when the will of God, and the will of the Devil hung in equal ballance before him, we know how ready he was to chuse the wrong Scale; God said, Touch not the forbidden fruit; Satan said, Take and eat the forbidden fruit; and you know the sad event of that affair. Now if Adam was at the Devils beck in the slate of Creation, when his Nature was not depraved with sin, nor his Soul debaucht with lust, who in the state of Corruption can say, my Heart is clean.
Object. It may be some will Object, none is so devoid of Grace sure, none gone so far in the Stupification of their Conscience, as to do the will of the Devil?
Answ. Ah poor soul! I could wish that the party here concern'd be not nearer than thou art aware of; put thy hand into thy bosom, and it may be, thou mayest resolve the Objection thy self; Thou wouldst possibly take it ill, should I come to thee [as Nathan did to David] and clap thee on the shoulder with this Arrest, Thou art the man. I confess this would be more than my Commission warrants me to do, yet give me leave to whisper one word or two in thine ear.
When thou makest a lye, whose will dost thou? Gods, or the Devils? not Gods, for God saith, put away lying. Surely lying is the work and will of Satan, whom the Scripture Records for a Lyar from the beginning: Again, when with Jezebel thou paintest thy self with pride, and standest sacrificing many a precious morn to the Idol in the Looking-glass, whose will art thou doing at such a time? sure not Gods, for in Isaiah 28:1. you have him declaiming against such practises, Wo to the crown of pride, to the crown of pride. When thou art acting the good-fellow upon that Ale-bench, and with thy drivling Oaths damning all that are wedded to the Rules of Sobriety, and dares not break off thy drunken Fraternity, whose will art thou doing? and in whose work art thou imployed at such a time? Certainly not Gods, he calls no such Conventicles, nor allows no such Societies; witness that Alarum, which he sounds under the window where such Swaggerers fit, Joel 1:5. Awake, awake ye drunkards, weep and howl all ye drinkers of wine; for the time is at hand when your sweet draught shall be cut off from your mouth. In a word, when thou art sinning, whose will art thou doing? not Gods; for he saith, Cease to do evil, and learn to do well. Certainly while it is thus with thee, the words of Christ are applicable to thee, Thou art of thy Father the Devil, and the work or will of the Devil thou wilt do, John 8:44.
Use. 3. Thirdly, is it so, then ever make Gods will the Standards of yours, and think not to bring down his will to yours, but resign up your will to his. That Epitapth would not become a Christian Tomb-stone, which was found Engraven upon a Misers Monuments, Here lies one against his will; the blessed Apostle was of another minde, when he said, I have learnt in whatever state I am, therewith to be content. Many can be content in an Honorable Estate, or in a wealthy Estate, or in a plentiful or prosperous Estate: but to be reproacht, and yet content, to be bely'd, and yet content; to be affronted, and wrong'd, and yet content, in such Estates as these to be content, is far above Nature, and none can do it, but he that hath learnt it, I have learnt, saith Paul.
But alas! how few Scholars hath this Great Doctor St. Paul in his Heavenly Academy! Children can learn to be proud, can learn to be covetous, can learn to be undutiful to their Parents, can learn to lye and swear, before they have well learnt to speak. But he must be a Man, nay more than a Man, that can learn to love an Enemy, to forgive an injury, and with Paul, to be content with every Contingency.
For the Lords sake [MAN] ply this lesson well, if thine Enemy lay thy Honour low, intreat the Lord to lay thy heart as low, and be content: If Authority bring thy Estate down, beseech God to bring thy Spirit down, and be content; when thy comforts runs a tilt, and thy blessings runs dregs, then let patience have her perfect work, and be content, feast upon thy own Lentiles, quash thy penitential tears instead of luscious Wine, and count thy sins instead of pounds, keep thy heart at home, and suffer not thy ambition to climb up beyond thy Makers pleasure.
Mahomet, when he could not make the Mountain come down to it, he went up to the Mountain: So when thou canst not enlarge thy Dominions to thy minde, then confine thy minde to thy Dominions; and when thou hast more, be the more thankful, and when thou hast less, be content. This is the third Use, Make Gods will the standard of yours.
Now if you put Pauls Query, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
I will answer the question, & tell you; what God would have you to do.
1. God would have you obey his Command, and live piously.
2. God would have you bear his Cross, and suffer patiently.
First, It's Gods will you should live piously. For the proof of this you may read, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4. This is the will of God, what is? even this, saith Paul; your Sanctification, that every one of you should possess your vessel in holiness? Mark this, in holiness, and if so, what will become of all those befooled and abused souls, who debauch their vessel with uncleanness, and defile themselves with drunkenness? If Belshazar was so severely punisht for dissecrating and prophaning the Vessels of the Temple dedicated unto God, of how much sorer punishment shall these wretches be thought worthy, who have adulterated and defiled the Temple of the Holy Ghost? He drank intemperately to the honour of his Idol, only in dead Vessels of Gold and Silver; But these in doing thus, abuse living Vessels, living bodies, and living souls; such Vessels as by Baptism were markt out for God, and separated and sealed to his holy service, they abuse and prostitute to a Lust, to a Whore, to the Devil. Ah! who can but weep, and weep again to see how much of our English Bloud is poyson'd with these beastly Enormities at this day; and how many of our [otherwise hopeful] Gentlemen, who might do God and their Country much service, and be a great help to the publick good, and peculiar blessing to the place where they live, do basely and unworthily melt away their youth, and Emasculate their spirits in drunken Societies and Effeminate Embraces.
Alas, that so many Noble Births, so many sparkling Wits should be prostituted to Satans service, and imployed in carrying on Satans cause, while they know it not; If they had found a Golden Chalice (as Augustine observes of Lucinus) they would have given it to the Church; But God hath given them a Golden Wit, a golden Head, and golden parts, and in these golden Cups, and Challices, they drink themselves to the Devil, both body and soul for evermore.
Ah deluded and degenerated Gentlemen! think with your selves seriously, what answer you will make to your Judge at the general Audit-day, for taking the Members of Christ, and making them members of an Harlot.
Never see my face more, said Joseph, unless you bring your brother Benjamin with you. Oh friends, never think to see Gods face to your comfort in Glory, if you carry not holy bodies, and holy souls, and holy affections with you; God tells you his minde in Heb.— Follow peace and holiness, without which you shall never see the Lord, You may go to Heaven without a peny in your purse, but you shall never come there without holiness in your heart. Heaven is a City where Righteousness dwells, and therefore though God in his wonderful patience to poor lost man, suffer the Earth to give the ungodly a little house-room a while, yet sure I am, he will never cumber Heaven with such a crew.
Before Enoch was translated to Heaven, he walkt holily upon Earth, else God had never desired his Company so soon as he did. And before the Saints departed, commenced, and took their degree of Glory, they kept their Acts, and performed the exercises of grace, and so must you, the Scripture is plain, Without Holiness, none shall see the Lord. It's true, none goes to Heaven for his Holiness, and this shews the Insufficiency of Holiness; But it's as true, that none goes to Heaven without holiness, and this argues the necessity of holiness; And therefore though it be no plea for Heaven, yet it will be your best Evidence, and will you have your Evidences to seek, when you should have them to shew? Ah then! as you value a portion among the Saints in Light, and hope to live in Heaven, when you can live no longer upon Earth: Be holy, as your Father which is in Heaven is holy.
Caesars money must be known by Caesars Image and Superscription, and so must the Christian at the Reckoning day, by the Terror of his Conversation. Not everyone that saith Lord, Lord, but he that doth the will of the Lord shall be saved, saith Christ; Your works must be your witnesses, and your deeds must declare whose you are, and to whom you belong: And therefore begin to live that life now, which you intend and hope to live forever; and continue not one day longer in that condition, in which you would not die, and appear at Judgment in; Therefore go home and dress your selves, not with good Cloaths, but with good works; and while others are querying what they shall eat, and what they shall drink, and what they shall put on; study you how to live, and how to dye, and to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof; And when others are projecting how to improve a barren piece of ground, let your contrivance be how to improve a barren minde; and as their care is, that their fields should not lye fallow, so let it be your study, not to let your hearts lye fallow; and the rather because you see that this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that every one of you should possess his Vessel in holiness, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4.
Now, that this is the will of God, will appear upon a two-fold account.
1. First from the price, with which he hath redeemed us to it:
2. And secondly, from the Promise which he hath made to Reward us for it.
1. The price he paid down upon the nail, was his own blood, Titus 2:14. He gave himself for us, that he might Redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people. Had man kept his primitive holiness, Christ might have kept his life, and have spared his pains; It was mans lost Righteousness, lost Holiness, that Christ came to recover. But this is a Point that needs pressing rather than proving, which I shall undertake to effect by these ensuing obrestations and intreaties. I beseech you, upon the account of these three Considerations, that you would approve your selves a holy Nation, a Seed which the Lord hath blessed.
I beseech you
1. For my sake.
2. For your sakes.
3. For Christs sake.
First, for my sake, who am to come to you as a Petitioner and Messenger from the Lord, and the sum of my desires is this, I beseech you in Christs stead, that you would be reconciled to God. I am not courting you for your silver, but for your souls; and what will you grant me, if this be denied me; O the Lord make you a willing people in the day of his power.
God hath sent me to you (as Jesse to David) with this Present in mine hands, and these Breathings in my heart after your Salvation; O may they but prove serviceable and successful to your souls, and I shall bless God that hath put it into mine heart thus to visit you? But if you will not hear, nor fear to do no more so wickedly, My soul shall weep in secret for you.
Is it not sad to a tender Physitian, to see his Patients to dye under his hands; much sadder sure to a poor Minister, to see souls drop to Hell, one by one under his Pulpit, and cannot help them, cannot save them; this must needs be a heart-sadding sight to one that's sensible of the worth of souls. It costeth the Mother no small pains to bring forth a living Child. But ah the bitter Throws of that Minister that travels all the yearlong, nay, all his life long, with a dead Child, a dead-hearted people: That spends his strength, and like a Candle, Swails out his life amongst his Parish, and is forced at last, to take up the Prophets complaint, Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?
O my dear friends, think solemnly and seriously, what answer you intend to give me, before I leave you. Christ will not always cry; Come; the Spirit will not always cry, Come, neither must I; the time is at hand, when you will say one to another, we had a Preacher, we had a Teacher, we had a well-wisher, and a lover of our souls amongst us; but we did not improve and profit under him as we might, and therefore God hath sent him away from us, as he did Jonah to Nineveh, when Jerusalem despised him. O hear me then while you may, and pray with me while you may; and accept of the tender of Salvation from me, while you may; Yet a little while, and you that have seen me, shall see me no more; and you that have heard me, (as Job saith) shall say, where is he? It's but a little, and those Seats shall have other Hearers, and this Pulpit have another Preacher; It's but a little that you have to hear, and I have to speak in this place, and shall not my Dying words, be Living words to you? shall my Farewel-Sermon be a forgotten Sermon? and the last request I am like to make to you, be repulsed and slighted by you, O my dear Neighbors and Friends, of whom I travel till Christ be formed in you; Awake, and live, seek the Lord before the Grave and Hell shut their mouths upon you, and before the Servant of the Lord, sent now to warn you, take his last leave of you, and see your faces no more.
I am wounded, I am wounded, to think this Sermon should be Concluded, before all your Souls be Converted, and to leave any of this Congregation, walking on in Hell Road, when I am gone; Oh that I knew but what to do, to get you to do that today, which must be done, or you may be undone tomorrow.
If it were to follow you home, and there to beg your Conversion on my bare Knees, as a Child begs his Fathers blessing: If it were to go to my Closet and pray, and there to wrestle with God, as Jacob did for you, my loving Parishioners, till I get this answer I have blessed them, and they shall be blessed, Nay,
though I were sure to go to Prison as soon as I come forth of the Pulpit, yet I should think all well bestowed, could I but see you begin to turn this Sermon into practice, and to follow peace and holiness, without which you cannot see the Lord.
Oh what a joyful hours work would I esteem this, and how heartily would I bless your God and my God, that prospered his Word in the mouth of his servant, making it a Salvation Word to as many as our Earwitnesses of it this day.
This is the first Argument, I beseech you for my sake. Little do you think what a joy it's to your Minister to see his Children (as St. John speaks) walking in the truth. And on the contrary, what an affliction, to see you walk in Error, and Sin. Little do you think what a comfort it's to me to think of making this account to God at the Judgment Day, here are the Children which thou gavest me, and I have lost none. And on the other hand, what an aching it is to my heart, to think of bespeaking God at that time, on this manner, Here are none of the Children, O Lord, none of the Souls that thou didst commit to my trust, for I have lost them all. But I hope better things of you, though I thus speak.
II. Secondly, I beseech you for your own sakes. Who will have the worse of it, if this advice be not followed, you or I? Alas, though it may be matter of Grief to me, yet not of Guilt: God will reward me according to my labour, not according to my success. We are, said the Apostle, A sweet Savour of Christ in them that perish, mark, in them that perish, as well as in them that be saved. Though the Patient dye, yet the Physitian must be paid: So albeit the people dye in their sins, yet Gods Ministers may comfortably conclude with the Prophet, Isaiah 49:4. Though I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought, yet surely my Judgment is with the Lord, and my work (namely, the reward of my work) with my God.
Ah my friends, it's you that will have the worst of it one day, if this Sermon be not faithfully followed, and obeyed; Read at your leasure Ezekiel 3:16-18, and see whether I speak truth or a lye; It's you that must have the reward of punishment; It's you that must stand or fall, that must be the Subjects of the pleasures of Heaven, or the Objects of all the pains in Hell; and should not you then be as much concern'd for your selves, as I am for you? Now you enjoy your health, and the sad Accents of a dying sinner are not heard in your habitations, but will it be always thus? Now each of you sit under his Vine with delight, and there is no carrying into Captivity, nor no crying in your streets, but will such times last always. Now you can hawk, hunt, swear and drink, and then you think you are qualified like Gentlemen; but will this last always? Suppose thou hadst a Crown on thy Head, how long wouldst thou wear it? Suppose thou hadst a Scepter in thy Hand, how long wouldst thou hold it? They are sick at Rome, and dye in Princes Courts, as well as at the Spittle; yea, Kings themselves cannot keep their Crowns on their heads, nor their heads on their shoulders, but must stoop when death strikes, and go as naked to their Beds of Dust, as other men; and in that day all their thoughts, their projects, and their pleasures perish with them; only their guilt of their sins, which were the Ladders, by which they did climb up to the top of their pleasures, the top of their honors, and preferments will dog them into another world. Hence said Abner to Joah, 2 Samuel 2:26. Know'st thou not that these things will be bitterness in the end? You will now have your sweet-meats, and your sweet drinks, your sweet pleasures and pastimes, let the Minister say what he will, but do not you know that this will be bitterness in the end? In Hell all the Sugar will be melted off, wherein the Pill of your sins and temptations is wrapt, and then the note you'll sing will be that of the Emperor, O quantum ob quantillum! O what an eternity of pain have I for an inch of pleasure, or an Ell of sinful delight! As the Malefactor said to his Neighbor, dost thou envy me my Grapes that I have stolen? Alas, they I cost me dear, I must dye for them? Ah envy not at the pleasures of a poor sinner, they'll cost his soul dear one day; what doth Dives his Wine-cellar advantage him now in Hell, while he cries out for a Cup of cold water, and cannot have it: O Sirs, you cannot now conceive while you sit in health and ease, what different thoughts you will then have of a holy, and unholy life, and with what gripes of Conscience will your undone Souls, look back on a life of Mercy, thus basely, and blockishly slept away, dream'd and sin'd away. I beseech you then, and that for your own sakes, that you would not for a few fleshly pleasures, which are passing away, incur the torments of Hell, which shall never pass away.
III. Thirdly, I beseech you for Christs sake. And me thinks when I beg of you in Christs name, and for Christs sake, you should not say nay; If you love me, saith Christ, keep my Commandements, John 14:15. See with what perswasive Rhetorick he presseth this Duty, if you love me, saith he, do it? O Christians! what may not the love of Christ command you? If it were to lay down your blood for him, would you not do it? and will you not be persuaded to lay down your Strifes and Divisions, your Animosities and Corruptions for his sake?
As Absalon said to Hushai, 2 Samuel 16:17. Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Such a friend as Christ hath been, is, and ever will be? Certainly that Indictment will one day be prefer'd against you, which the Apostle pronounceth with tears in his eyes, Php_3:18. You are enemies to the Cross of Christ; as if he had said, Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil, and you by your loose walkings destroy the works of Christ, the Image of Christ, and the Interest of Christ in the Soul? Christ laid down his bloud to Purge you, and you unworthily lay down your selves in sin to Pollute you, and so become guilty of denying the Lord that bought you, and trampling underfoot the Bloud of the Covenant. What Ear doth not tingle, and what doth not tremble at such a horrid and flagicious Act? I beseech you then be tender of Christs honour, and be holy for Christs sake, whose heart you see, or may see by what follows, is engaged and concern'd to promote holiness among you.
Consider
1. His strict Command calls for it.
2. His servent Prayer implyes it.
3. His holy Example teacheth it.
First, I say his Command calls for it, Matthew 5:16. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works; that is, lead such convincing lives, that the world may witness and certifie with you, that you are certainly a choice Generation; a Seed which the Lord hath blessed. Here's a Command you see, now where's your obedience? will you make Conscience of it, or will you not? will you swear Allegiance to it, or will you not? shall it pass for an irrefragable Rule of Life, or shall it not.
It was Pompey's boast, that with a Word, or a Nod, he could awe his Souldiers to anything; and shall God command, and go without? shall Gods word have less authority then Pompey's?
I read much of the blind obedience of the Papists to their Rulers, even in things scarce credible, but that themselves have publisht them.
One Masseus a Franciscan, tumbled himself in the dirt, and crawled like a Child, because that St. Francis told him, that unless he became as a little Child, he could not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Jesuites are so framed to Obedience, that whatever service they are injoyned by their Superiours, though never so abominable, they must accomplish it. Yea, if the blessed Virgin vouchsafe her presense to one of the brethren, if his Superiour call him, he must presently break from her, and go at his bidding; although it be on a bloudy Errand, and wondrous design, with a hundred more Fopperies of this nature.
What do I reckon these for, but to assure you, that these who have paid such homage to man, will rise up one day out of their Graves to condemn us, who are less careful in our obedience to God Almighty: They shut the eyes of Reason to obey their earthly Superiours, and we dispute, if not deny our Allegiance to our Heavenly Law-giver.
God bids us believe, and we distrust; God bids us obey, and we dispute; God bids us remember our Creator in the dayes of our Youth, and we forget him even in our age; God bids us learn of him, to be meek and lowly, and we learn of the Devil to be proud and haughty; God bids us be sober and watch unto Prayer, and we surfeit with excess, and sleep at Prayer; God bids us forbear, and forgive one another in love, and we reproach and persecute one another with much opposition and hatred. In a word, God bids us be content with what we have, and we unthankfully murmur for what we want.
Ah sinners, God sees and hears you all this while, and his hand is setting down in the Table-book of his Remembrance all your undutifulness and disobedience, and when the Book shall be open'd, how think you will these Indictments be answer'd?
II. Secondly, Christs servent Prayers calls for holiness, John 27:17. Sanctifie them with thy Truth, saith he. Should you hear a Minister with abundance of zeal press a Duty upon his people in the Pulpit, and as soon as he gets home, you should go under his Closet Window, and hear him hard at Prayer, begging of God a blessing upon his labours that day, you would easily believe the Minister was in earnest: So here, our Saviour hath no sooner done his Sermon, but you finde him at Prayer, John 17:17. and what he most insisted on in the Pulpit, that he enlargeth most on in his Closet; Father, saith he, Sanctifie them.
III. Thirdly, As Christs Prayer, so his Pattern and Example shews his desires to have his people a holy people; Was not he a lover of holiness in others, and a true practiser of holiness himself; was not be the Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, no sin, no spot? and why was he so? doth he not tell you, John 13:15. I have given you an Example, saith he, that you should do as I have done? He was content to have his Honour laid in the Dust; his Credit or Bloud laid in the Dust, but it was for an Example of all self-denial to you: Again, he was content to take a Towel and a Bason in his hand to wash his Disciples feet, John 3:14. but it was for an Example of Humility to you. In a word,
He was so Heavenly upon Earth, so mortified to all worldly interests, and liv'd so convincingly before men, that his very enemies were forced to own his Divinity, and to say, that he could not possibly do such things, unless God were with him; now all this was for an Example of holiness to you; I have given you, saith he, an Example, that you should do as I have done.
O then set Christ in his holy Example before you, (as one would set the person whose Picture he intends to draw) and labour to draw every line in your life, according to your Copy. O this would be a sweet way indeed to maintain the power of holiness: when you are tempted to any vanity, or extravagancy, then set Christ before you in his holy walking, and ask thy soul, Am I in this speech like Christ? do I in this action write after my Copy? Did Christ, or would Christ, if he were to live again upon Earth, do as I do? and live as I live? Would not he be more choice of his company? more watchful over his words than I am? Were ever
Cards and Dice seen so frequently in his hands as in mine? Did he ever ruine his Debtors by extracting his right, or Defraud his Creditors by detaining their rights? O friends, study Christs life more, and you will sooner learn to amend your own.
Well, I'll conclude this Discourse with one word of Counsel. Is it Gods will that you should be a holy people, then let your wills be so too, and be holy in all manner of conversation.
The last words that Mr. Bolten spoke to his Children on his deathbed, were these; I charge you my dear ones, as you will answer it at the day of Judgment, that you live so, as that you meet me not at that time in a state of unregency.
Beloved, I have not many words to speak to you, for the hour of my departure hasteneth; therefore I will compose what I have to say, in this dying request. You and I like Elijah and Elisha, are at the point of parting; I do therefore require of you, and in the Name of God Conjure you, so to improve this Sermon, this opport unity, this hours discourse, that we may take comfort at our next meeting, and rejoyce to see one anothers face at the Judgment day, which we shall never do, if we appear there in a sinful and unsanctified estate.
Oh that the Lord would make me an happy Instrument to convey Converting Grace into your souls this day; so that as Sampson slew more at his death, than he did all his life before; so I may save more with this dying speech, than ever I did with an that's gone before. I have read of a rich Florentine, who being to die, called his sons together, and thus bespoke them; It much rejoyceth me, now upon my Death-bed, to think that I shall leave you all wealthy. But oh my friends, it would rejoyce me more if now at my departure, I could leave you all gracious, and if before I die, I could see Jesus Christ to live in you.
Awake, awake you Sons of sleep, and hear what concerns your peace, before the time come when you shall hear no more. Let not your hearts run after Fields, and Vineyards, Houses, and Orchards, for before thy fruit be ripe, thy flesh may be rotten; before thy next Harvest be ready for the Sickle, thy soul may be ripe for Judgment.
Up then and be doing, thou know'st not what a punctillio thy time is reduced unto; thou hast gone over some mens graves to day, and it may be, others may go over thine tomorrow; Or, if God spare thee with life and health, yet if thou neglectest Gods call this Sabbath, God may neglect to call thee the next; It is well known how many merciful Messages Pharaoh had brought him by Moses, and what fair and frequent warnings he had to amend his life, but when all this would not do, Moses took his leave, and he saw his face no more.
Beloved, I have appeared many a Sabbath amongst you, and once again am I come as a Collector, to gather souls for God, and to try how many hearts I can hug to Heaven with me. Oh consider now in time, what you resolve on! stand out against the offers of Mercy this day, and God knows whether ever you may hear him again knocking at your doors upon the like Errand; God makes short work with some in his Judiciary proceedings; If he finds a repulse once, sometimes he departs and leaves that dismal curse behind him, Luke 14:24. Not one of those that were hidden, and would not come, shall ever taste of my Supper; they were but once bidden, and for their very first denyal, this curse is clapt upon their heads, Not one of them shall taste of my Supper; It's not said, they shall never come where the Supper stands on the Table; but they shall never taste it. Poor souls, you may sit under the Ordinances, and you may come to Sacraments, and Sermons, where Christ is brought in, both as first and second course; but through the efficacy of this Curse, never taste; as David saith, How good and gracious God is? Why, because, when I called, saith God, you refused, and when I stretched forth my bands, none regarded, therefore I will now give you to eat of the fruit of your own doings, and fill you with your own devices, Proverbs 1:24; Proverbs 1:31.
Therefore consider of it, and give up your names to God to day, lest tomorrow be too late; his Manna is ready if you come in time to gather it, but if you linger, he hath his Sun to melt it away, and it's gone.
Thus have you had the first Particular open'd to you, and urged upon you, namely, That it's God's will you should obey the Command, and live holy.
The next follows, which is this:
I. It's Gods will you should bear the Cross, and suffer patiently, 1. Pet. 3:17. It's better saith Peter, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing, than for ill: Now, if the will of God be so sometime, that you should suffer, albeit for well-doing; than let your wills be so too, and quietly compose your selves to a suffering condition.
It's said of the Israelites, that at the Commandment of the Lord they journeyed, and at the Commandment they pitched; whence it may be inferred, That it is God that assigneth to us, and ordereth for us the several Vicissitudes of Fortune, and changes of Condition; our pitching here or there, is from a Providence, whether in a fair house, or a foul, in a great living, or a small, in a barren soil, or a fruitful, and where ever, or whatever it be, it is above our desert, and therefore should not fall below our thanks.
I read of one, who was never the more proud, when dignified with Honour, nor never the less patient, when disgraced with Slander: Oh this even temper, is an excellent temper, when a man can so eye his wants, as not to be puffed up with his Receipts, and so Eye his Receipts, as not to be cast too much down in the sense of his wants; And this is that frame of spirit, which I would fain have both myself and you, to come up to; and therefore if God please hereafter to make a Gap in thy Estate, let not that open a Gap to discontent, but remember Jobs carriage in the like case, and joyn with him in that penitential prostration of his, I will hear the indignation of the Lord, for I have sinned against him. If God strike thee with Dumbness, strike not thou God again with thy Discontentedness, but remember speechless Zachary, and be content; If God open the mouths of thy Enemies, or wicked Neighbors against thee, do not thou open thy mouth against them, but think oft on Davids words, I opened not my mouth, said he, because thou didst it. Yet David opened not his mouth to recriminate them, nor vindicate himself, but took all in good part, because he knew that God did it. I shall now propound some considerations to contentment under the Cross; I can only propound them, it's God that must prosper them to you.
1. Consider for your comfort, God will be with you in your troubles.
2. Consider, you shall be with God after your troubles.
I. First, God will be with you, Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the water, I will be with thee; Mind, I will be with thee; fear not drowning then, so long as God is in the Ship.
Thou carriest Caesar in thy Barque, said the Emperour to the trembling Marriner, and therefore be not afraid; O Christian, thy God is with thee in a suffering time, and how canst thou be afriad of that condition wherein thou hast Gods company? I will be with thee in six troubles, and in seven, saith the Lord, and surely it cannot be ill with that man, with whom God is. It's infinitely better to be able to say, God is with thee, than to say, peace is with thee, or health is with thee, or honour is with thee, or credit, or friends are with thee, for in these you have but some particular good, but in God you have all good; and this is the first, you have an excellent Scripture for it, Hebrews 13:5. Be content with such things as you have, why? For I will never leave you, nor forsake you; though your Riches may leave you, and health may leave you; yet will not I.
Oh what an argument is this to force contentment in every condition, to consider that he will not leave us comfortless, but will come unto us: Chear up then my drooping soul, thou shalt never want, so long as thy God hath it; For by the Promise thou hast command of Gods purse, and mayest be sure of his presense.
Let others repine, do thou rejoyce, and let such as be without God in the world, shark and shift, live by their wits, but in all straights do thou live by Faith.
O beloved, you know not how soon God may call for your comforts one after another, and bring you as he did his people Israel, out of a fat Land, into a famishing Wilderness, where no water is, no comfort is; what will you do in such a case as this? If you please, I'll tell you, when your hearts fail you, and your friends thus fail you, let not your hearts fail you, nor your faith fail you, for you have a faithful God which will never fail you, but will be instead of all things to you, from himself alone.
As Joseph said to Pharaoh, without me God, will provide an answer for Pharaoh. So may I say in this case; without silver, without gold, without fair houses and rich furniture, God can provide for the welfare of his people. Though your means be gone, yet your God is not gone; and if you cannot be contented now, it will argue that it was not God, but your means that did content you then.
Well, this is the first, Consider God will be with thee in thy troubles, and that upon a two-fold account.
1. To behold thee.
2. To uphold thee.
I. First, to behold thee, God sees the wrongs, and hears the grievances you undergo for men; though your friends looks off you, yet your God looks on you, Exodus 3:17. I have seen, I have seen, saith God, the heavy Burthens and Taxations that my people undergo in Egypt. As if God had said thus, I have seen, and so seen, as that my bowels are turned within me, and I can no longer hold my peace.
What a gracious God have we, that owns his people in such a low condition, wherein none will own them; for, saith God, I have seen, I have surely seen the troubles of my people that be in Egypt. Fear not afflictions then, for they cannot chase God from us, nay, they are rather advantages, wherein God doth ordinarily discover himself most comfortably to us; which brings me to the second Particular.
II. As God will be with you in your troubles to behold you; so secondly, to Uphold you; Cham lookt on his Fathers Nakedness and laught, but God looks on a Christians trouble, and helps: The eyes of the Lord run to and fro, saith the Prophet; what to do? To shew himself strong in the behalf of his people: Where God hath a seeing Eye, there he hath a helping hand too, if man can but finde a believing heart to lay hold upon it.
David is a witness of this truth, when he saith, In the dry that I cryed thou answeredst me, and gavest me strength in my soul; as if David had said, It's true, O Lord, thou assaultest me, and that's my trouble; but it's as true, that thou assistest me, and this is my comfort; In the day that I cryed unto thee, thou answeredst me, and gavest me strength in my soul.
Object. I, saith the scrupulous Christian, would God do this for me? if he would put strength into my soul, strength of Faith, strength of patience, strength of Grace, then I should bid a freer wellome to the Cross when it comes; But alas! instead of this strength you speak of, I finde nothing but weakness upon weakness, a weak faith, a weak assurance, weak patience; all weak.
Answ. I answer briefly, hast thou not strong Grace? and doth that discourage thee? it may be thou art not tryed with strong afflictions, let this quiet thee; hast thou not as much patience as another? it maybe thou hast not yet as much need of it as others; their patience is greater than thine, because their troubles are greater than thine. In a word, thou said'st thou hast not a Martyrs Faith, it maybe thou needest it not yet, because thou hast not a Martyrs Fire; a weak Faith may serve for a light Cross; when God calls thee to hotter services of
Christianity, fear not but he will be at thy back, not only to behold thee, but as you have heard, to Uphold thee, 2 Cor. 15. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, saith Paul, So also our Consolations abound in Christ: See here, as men lays on troubles, so God lays in comfort: Hence it was that Davids heart did not fail him, when all his friends forsook him, 1 Samuel 30. And David encouraged himself in his God, saith the Text; It was sad with him at this time; Zicklag was burnt, his Wives taken captive, he lost all, and like to have lost the hearts of his Souldiers too, [for they speak of stoning him.] In this condition that David was now in, he turned his face from the Creature, lookt up to Heaven, and encouraged himself in his God; when all other visible helps shrunk from him, then his God clave to him, and he to his God.
Oh Christian, live upon the Comforter himself, in the want of other comforts; If thou canst not say, that God is thy God, it is thy sin; but if thou canst say, he is thy God, and yet not content, it is thy shame; for if God, an All-sufficient God, will not suffice thee, will not content thee, sure nothing will.
II. Secondly, You shall be with God after your troubles, This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, said Christ to the present Thief; as if he should have said, I am with thee, bearing the Cross, and thou shalt be anon with me wearing the Crown, and therefore be satisfied; a parallel Scripture to this you have in Romans 8:17. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him, said Paul; who will not now willingly act a sufferers part a while, when he remembers what a blessed Exit his sufferings shall have at last: Daniel was brought out of the Dungeon, and immediately preferr'd at Court; Joseph of a slave, became the chief man of the Kingdom: Ah, what a Banquer did God provide for Paul and Silas in Prison; and Jacob being banished from his Fathers House, what a comfortable Vision saw he at Bethel: better provision sure, than if he had been sitting at home at his plentiful Table.
But albeit the Lord treats not all his Children as he did these; yet are they all sure of his comfort: Glory shall be the end of their sufferings, and Heaven their habitation for evermore; they have Christs Certificate under his own hand, Romans 1. If you suffer with me, ye shall reign with me.
Oh that so much of Heaven, were Revealed and Unvailed to you, as to see something of those Eternal Joyes, which they that be dead in the Lord, have received for a few momentary sufferings in their life-time; Hungry Lazarus feasting, lame Mephibosheth dancing, and all the Colledge of Martyrs and Confessors striking up their Harps, and Chanting forth that Epiphanema of praise, Revelation 7:10. Salvation, salvation unto our God, which sits upon the Throne, and to the Lamb forever. Oh who would not rejoyce in their sufferings, with such Musick in their ears, and such a sight as this in their eye!
Let this then beget contentment, it's in with such at present, but good news will be next, Gods Rod, like Jonathans Rod, hath Honey, nay, Heaven at the end: Look up Christians and see, that the Cloud, while dropping on you, is rolling over you, stand but in the shower a while, and fair weather will be next, even an everlasting Sun-shine of glory. When you have suffered a while, saith Peter, 1 Peter 5:10. the Lord will make you perfect, that is, your sufferings are not a killing you, but a perfecting you.
Poets tells us that the Hill of Olimpus is so high, that on the top of it is always a Calm; Beloved, it's hard climbing up the Rocky and Rugged Hill of the Cross, but when you are once come up to the Top, you shall be in a Calm, and say as Peter did on the Mount, it's good to be here, good to get Heaven at any rate.
And this is the second Argument to work Contentment under the Cross; God will not only Come to you in your troubles, but you shall Go to God after your troubles, God will make your afflictions to be Inlets into glory, and your Cross a Ladder to climb up to Heaven; and therefore fear not afflictions, they are not such Bugbears as the flesh fancieth them to be: Which seriously thought on, would be enough to make thy soul ambitious of suffering, saying as one did once, I am afflicted, till I be afflicted.
A Child that's going home will never complain of bad way. O Christian, thou art going home to Heaven in a way of suffering, every affliction, every Cross sets thee one step forward to thy Fathers house, and wilt thou complain of bad way? one beam of Gods face in Heaven will dry up all thy tears; hence saith the holy Prophet, Revelation 21. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for all these things are passed away.
Thus have I given you two helping Considerations to melt your wills into obedience to Gods will, and to run the Race that is set before you with patience; therefore I shall be at the pains to help you a little further, Consider,
1. The Cross is necessary, and must be born,
2. Your Cross is easie, and may be born.
I. First, I say it's necessary, God hath laid it on, and who can take it off; As Balaam said, God hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. So may I say, God hath crossed, and thou canst not repeal it; and therefore let it be born bravey I. Now it is unavoidable necessary upon a double account
1. In regard of the Precept.
2. In regard of the Means.
First, you have a Precept for it, Luke 9:35. He that will be my Disciple, let him take up his Cross and follow me.
Secondly, it's necessary as a Means to the obtaining the End. Christ the Captain of our Salvation was made perfect through sufferings, and so must we, Hebrews 2:10. Ought not Christ first to have suffered, and then to have entred into his rest? saith Luke 24:26. yes, he ought, and so ought Christians; For, through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
A hot burning Furnance was a pleasant path, in which the three Children walkt to their Caelestial Country, while Belshazars Coaches like a Sedan, conveyed quickly into the dwellings of Furies, and habitation of Devils; A fiery Chariot hoysed up Elijah to Heaven, where as a Feather-bed ushered Dives down to Hell: Therefore be not afraid of suffering for God, for he can give an happy issue when he pleaseth.
II. Again, as the Cross is Necessary, and must be born; So it is Easie, and may be born; And that
1. Absolutely.
2. Comparatively.
First, Absolutely, and in itself; Hence said Christ, take my Yoke upon you, for my Yoke is easie, and my Burden is light; Never then call that Cross heavy, which Christ hath called easie and light.
Art thou pained with the Gout or Colleick? that's a light burthen; and the Boyes of Spain bore so much, and more without complaining that their Cross was heavy; for I read that they would at their Altars endure whipping and scourging till their very Entrails saw the light through their torn flesh without crying.
These Children rejoyced in their sufferings like men, and this was their glory; but you that are men, you weep in your sufferings like Children, surely this is your shame.
Again, are you sick? this is a light burthen, and so light, that the least childe in the Town can bear it: In a word, whatever thy Cross be, if it be Christs Cross, it is a light one, and therefore not to be complained of; Take my Yoke upon you, saith he, for my Yoke is easie, and my Burden is light: And indeed, there is no burden
can truly be called, or by Christians can be counted heavy but sin; and this is a burthen which makes the whole Creation to groan under it; take away sin; and a man's life will be no longer a burthen to him; this is the heavy burthen; as for other burthens, they are light, and that first, absolutely. Secondly, they are light comparatively.
1. If you compare them with the pains which Christ endured.
Or, Secondly, With the pains of Hell which you deserved.
First, if you compare them with the pains that Christ endured, look but into Isaiah 53. and you shall see that whole Chapter spent in relating that bloody Tragedy which Christ acted for the Salvation of the World; He was despised and rejected of men, saith the Prophet; He hath bore our Griefs, and carried our Sorrows, ver. 4. He was wounded for our Transgressions, and bruised for our Iniquities: And thus the Text runs on in Teares. O what a suffering-Race did he run, that he might overtake us before we got to Hell.
Methinks I see what haste he makes on this suffering-Errand, and hear him cry to his Father while yet afar off, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. See here how the heart of Christ, like an Eccho, rebounds to his Fathers call.
When his Father spoke to him to undertake the Redemption-Work of saving a lost and undone World, he did not reluct nor answer with Moses, Exodus 4:13. I pray thee send some other on this Message; but, Lo I come (saith Christ) to do thy will, O my God.
And now Christians tell me, Doth not thy dear Lord deserve thus much from thee, to endure a little for his sake, who hath endured so much for thine? What though thy afflictions cost thee Tears, Christ's afflictions cost him blood; and though thou losest the comforts of this Life, this is nothing comparable to Christ's loss, who lost life itself.
Ah! what loss can match this loss? and whose sufferings like his sufferings? Do'st thou sigh under the sense of thy grievance, thus, My soul is sorrowful; But Christ went further, and said, My soul is sorrowful to death. Matthew 26:38. Do'st thou cry, My God, my God, why hast thou afflicted me? But Christ said more, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? consider this, and leave complaining.
Secondly, Your Cross is easie, if you compare it with the pain; of Hell, which you have deserved. Ah! there's never a one of you but would be in Hell before tomorrow, if God should give you your due; there are many there for those very sins which you live in: Dives is in Hell for making an Idol of his Wealth; have none of you done so? Haman is in Hell for pride; and are you not proud? Sodom is in Hell for contempt of the Prophets of the Lord, and for neglecting the day of Peace, and the day of Grace; the day of Gods patience and striving with them; and is not this Englands sin at this very day? The old Word is burning in Hell, for burning in lust on Earth; and was this sin ever more predominant than in this juncture of time? Herod hath been lying in Hell a thousand and six hundred years, for taking John Baptists Head from him.
Ah England! England! Is not this thy charge? Hath not this been thy practice these late years? And art thou not plung'd deep in thy own blood-guiltiness? Herod did but cut one mans Head off, and he is gone to Hell for it: Oh what an Hell may est thou look for, who hast got so many Heads, and drunk the Blook of thousands of the Saints, and faithful Servants of the most High? What City is there wherein there is not some Noble Births, some of Englands Worthies Sacrificed to the bloody itch, and Bedlam Surges of a Civil War? (I had almost said of an Uncivil Peace:) What Town is there wherein there is not some Families repeating over the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and saying, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the Rod of his wrath: Sion doth mourn, Judah is gone into captivity, the prophets sigh, the sheep are scattered, and wo is my soul because of murderers!
How many of the dear Children of God are crying for bread? (for the powerful Preaching of the Word amongst them) and there is no bread to be given them, nor the pleasant voice of their faithful Ministers to be heared amongst them; and they left to lament over their silenced Ministers, as King Joash wept over the dying Prophet, 2 Kings 13:14. O my Father, my Father, the Chariot of Israel, and the horse-men thereof; Will not God visit for these? Will he not be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yes, yes he will; Israel's woe, may be England's warning, Amos 4. Thus will I do unto thee; and because I will do thus unto thee, therefore prepare thy heart to meet thy God, O England. But this is a digression.
That which I am to speak to, is this, you are to bear the Cross contentedly, because whatever you do Endure, it is nothing to what you deserve, or to what the damned in Hell Endure.
In Hell there is variety of torments, and extremity of torments, and eternity of torments; not one way, but a thousand wayes to make a poor soul miserable, everlastingly miserable? And who can bear variety? Who can bear Eternity? Who can bear Eternity of torments? Yet all this you must bear, if ever it be your lot to lie in Hell.
Here it may be you want one mercy, but blessed be God you have another in lieu of it; you want health, but you want not friends; you want money, but you want not a Christ; you want an Estate, but you want not a contented mind; though your life be not absolutely made up of comforts, which is your misery; yet it is not altogether composed of crosses; and is not this a Mercy?
And thus is your life checqu'rd with blacks and whites, so that you have never such cause of Mourning, but withall you have some just ground of rejoycing; but in Hell there's nothing to be seen, but objects of sorrow; and nothing to be heard except inducements to grief; not one merry day, and one sad, not one hour of pain, and another of ease; not one cross, and one comfort; but all crosses and curses do meet there like lines in their proper center. Compare now your sufferings with the sufferings of Hell, and let this quiet you.
That School-boy thinks he gets well off, when deserving a Rod, he escapes with a Reproof: What a mercy then may you count it, that when you deserve a Curse from Christ, you escape with the Cress of Christ; afflicted on Earth, when you might justly be tormented in Hell.
Think of it then, are you corrected? It's the Lords mercy that you are not consumed. Hath God taken away your health from you? it's well you escape so, he might have taken away your life from you, and your Christ from you, and where had you been then?
In a word, how much soever God takes from you, it's less then you owe him; and how little soever he leaves you, it's more than he owes you; therefore instead of murmuring that your condition is so ill, bless God that it is no worse, saying with Ezra, Ez. 9:13. Thou, O Lord, hast punisht us less than our Iniquities have deserved.