SOME parcels of holy Scripture may not un­fitly be compared to the Libbet, or end of a piece of Arras, in which, he that beholds on­ly some particular part, may happily conceive the hand or foot which he sees, to be very un­skilfully made; but unfolding the whole, soon finds, that it carries a due symetry and proportion to the body. In the handling therefore of such Scriptures, it is necessa­ry, [Page 2] not only to unfold the Text, but the Context; that so by the joynt explication of both, those divine Truths that lie wrapped up in them may appear in their full dimensi­ons, which else by an incompleat and partial representati­on must needs be disfigured, and lose much, both of their harmony and beauty: But this Text, though it be a single sentence, excerped from the body of the Epistle, and Verse also in which it stands, yet it is so entire in its sense, so preg­nant in its worth, as that the least stay, in pointing to what goes before, or to what follows after, will rather hinder, than expedite my Progress in what I design to speak unto.

These words then, are an heavenly counsel of our Sa­viour to the Angel of the Church of Smyrna, animating them to an unbended constancy in their Profession amidst those extream difficulties and sore tribulations which Christ foretels should befall them, through Satans rage, and the violence of bloody Persecutors: They naturally branch themselves into two parts, a Precept, and a Promise; the one containing mans Duty, and the other Gods Bounty.

1. A Precept, enjoyning fidelity, Be thou faithful; A Duty so essential to the being of Christianity, as that it is both the divisive and constitutive difference of every true Believer, that which makes him really to be what he is, and distinguisheth him from others, who follow Religion, pro­pter famam, non propter conscientiam; for credit and reputes sake, not for conscience.

2. A free Promise annexed, the hope of which may be a reviving Cordial in their sufferings, and the certain per­formance an ample Reward after their sufferings; And I will give thee a Crown of Life.

In the Precept, we may consider:

First, The Person upon whom the Duty is incumbent, Be thou faithful: This Pronoune Thou, is not restrictive, but extensive; not fixing the Duty upon one individual, but indefinitely, charging it upon all; like an ingenuous and well-made picture, it faceth every beholder; as a cen­ter in a circle, it carrieth an equal respect to all the parts of the circumference; it is as a Cock, that croweth to every man, and not to Peter only.

Secondly, The term and boundary of the Duty, Be thou faith­ful unto death; which is not to be understood exclusively, but inclusively. Death must not separate, but seal the fidelity of a Christian: Life, as well as other accommodations must be little set by, in respect of Christ and his Truth, when it comes in competition with it. The resolution of that rich and noble Virgin in Basil, was truly masculine, who, when condemned to the fire for being a Christian (but of­fered both life and estate upon compliance to the worship of the Heathenish Idols) cryed out, Valeat vita, pereat pecunia; let life go, let money perish; and alike honou­rable is that Testimony given to those Worthies, who o­vercame the great Dragon, that they loved not their lives unto the death, Revel. 12. 11.

In the Promise, two particulars also are observable.

First, The Giver, Christ, expressed by way of Em­phasis, I will give thee; I, who am the first and the last, who was dead, and am alive, Revel. 2. 9. I, who am the Amen, the faithful and true VVitness, Revel. 3. 14. I, to whom power is given over all flesh, that I should give eternal life, John 17. 3. Oh! how secure is the happiness of every Believer, who hath the word of such a person to reward all his services, and to crown all his labours? who is holy, [Page 4] and cannot lye; who is immutable, and cannot repent; who is omnipotent and cannot be hindred.

Secondly, The Gift or Reward, a Crown of life, in which are three remarkable circumstances.

1. The Identity or oneness of the Gift: As the work is the same which is required of all, so the wages are the same which are given unto all; not a penny, as in the Vine­yard, but a Crown, as in the Race; none that are faithful shall be without a Crown, though there may be some acci­dental differences. The glory of Heaven is not Gavel­kind, in which every son or heir-male inherits an equal por­tion of h [...]s Ancestors estate: We may (as I conceive) piously believe that it is consonant to Scripture, as well as to the stream of Antiquity, that there are degrees of glo­ry; but not according to the Roman Scale, who have ham­mered and beaten out certain little Crowns, which they a­scribe only to Virgins, to Martyrs, to Doctors, and are pro­duced from their own extraordinary merits, not from the immediate Rayes of Christs glory shed upon them; but sure the mettal must be Alchymy, and not Gold.

A second, is the dignity of the Gift: A Crown is the Emblem of Majesty, and aptly noteth that great honour to which the faithful are exalted in Christ, Luk 22. 10. I appoint unto you a Kingdom; What is eternal life, but a Coronation day? Doth not the Scripture in describing of it, set it forth by such a solemnity in all its parts? The Robes which the faithful must be cloathed with, are the long white Robes of Righteousness; the Oyle with which they must be anointed, is the oyle of gladness; the Sce­pter which must be put into their hand, is a Scepter of pow­er to bruise their enemies under their feet; the Throne up­on which they must sit, is a Throne of glory; the Feast [Page 5] at which they must eat, is the great Supper of the Lamb; and the presence in which all must be transacted, is the pre­sence of the holy Angels.

A third, is the perpetuity of the Gift: It is a Crown of life, and so stands in a direct opposition unto the Crowns of mortal Princes, which have neither life, nor length: The gold and gems of which they consist, are both live­less and corruptible; but they that wear them are far more transient and fading: How inconsiderable oft-times is the distance between the joyful Coronation, and the sad Fune­rals of the same Prince? How soon are the poudred Er­mins exchanged for a winding sheet? The stately Palace, for a small Urn? And the Royal Collar of Esses sparkling with Diamonds, for the ignoble bonds of death and dark­ness? But so it is not with Believers, their dignity and their persons have both an endless life, as being wholly above all violence from without that may assault it, and perfectly free from any principle of mortality from within which may dissolve it; else could they not be perfectly happy, for it is Eternity alone which makes a good to be infinitely bet­ter, and an evil infinitely worse.

I have now shewed you that a rich Treasure may lie in a small compass, and that a little spot of the land of Canaan may bring forth a plentiful Harvest, when in this one pro­mise are not only scattered ears of Corn, which like the Disciples, we may rub in our hands, and eat in our journey; but loaden wains of heavenly grain, which like the rich man in the Gospel, we may treasure up, and freely live up­on, until we come to be truly above the use of means, and to derive our happiness immediately from the fruition of God, both in respect of presence, and of influence: But it cannot be expected that in one houre such an ample harvest [Page 6] should be reaped, or that all the fore-going particulars should be insisted upon by me; I shall therefore without breaking the order of the words, begin with the Precept, Be thou faithful unto the death.

And in the Explication of it, propound three Que­ries.

First, What this faithfulness is, which is the Duty enjoyned.

Secondly, Upon what grounds it is absolutely ne­cessary.

Thirdly, Why it must be persevered in unto death.

First, What fidelity or faithfulness is. In Scripture it undergoes a various and differing acceptation; sometimes it is put for the stedfastness and assurance of belief, as it is opposed unto an absolute diffidence, such as was in Thomas, who was resolved not to believe the Resurrection of his Lord, unless he might both see the print of the Nails, and thrust his hand into his side, that so his faith might have the security of the touch, as well as of the eye: Now to him Christ saith, [...]. Be not faithless, but faithful, John 20. 27. Sometimes it is taken for the profession of Christian Religion; If any faithful man or woman have Widows, let them minister unto them, 1 Tim. 5. 16. Sometimes it signifies the unquestionable verity of speech, This is a true and faithful saying, 1 Tim. 4. 9. In other places it imports a careful and conscientious discharge of ones trust, in that station and office to which he is cal­led. Thus Moses is said to have been faithful in all Gods house, as a servant, Hebr. 3. 5. And Christ to have been a merciful and faithful High Priest in things concerning God: He left nothing undone that might reconcile man to God, and expiate the sins of his people. Sometimes it is used [Page 7] for an unshaken and firm continuance in the Truth, when faith in Christ is seconded with faithfulness unto Christ: Thus Antipas is stiled a faithful Martyr, Revel. 2. 13. And those that are with Christ, are said to be called, chosen and faithful, Revel. 17. 14. I shall not need to re-assume these several senses, and cause them to pass before you, as Jesse did his sons before Samuel, that so you may the better see what that faithfulness is to which this Crown of life is pro­mised. It is methinks clear to every eye, that the Duty both enjoyned and rewarded, is the holding fast of the Name and Truth of Christ, in the conscientious exercise of those gifts and graces which he hath betrusted us with for his glory; the opposites unto which are, in the Scripture dialect, wavering, fainting, weariness in well-doing, backsli­ding, denying the faith, and such like sins, which we find in it to be often both reproved and condemned. How smart­ly doth Paul chide the Galathians for their fickleness and inconstancy in the Doctrine of the Gospel? How severely doth Christ threaten the Asian Churches declensions, and wainings in their profession? How frequent is he in his admonitions to them to do their first works, to repent, to re­member from whence they are fallen, to hold fast, that no man take their Crown? What are all these expressions, but so many brief Commentaries to enlighten the Duty of faith­fulness? I shall not therefore make use of the Lawyers Maxim, Superflua non nocent, that superfluous things oft­times do no harm, to insist any further in shewing what it is; but hasten rather to evince the necessity of it by con­siderations, which are pondere & numero pares, fully answer­able in their weight to their number, and this is the task of the second Query.

1. Faithfulness is necessary, in regard of that mutual and interchangeable trust which passeth between God and every Believer; God is not only their Depositary to keep what they commit to him, but they are also his, to preserve what he hath committed unto them; as they trust God with their souls, so God again trusts them with his Truth; both of them are things of an inestimable worth, one soul, if laid in the balance, weighs down a World; but Truth exceeds in value, Earth, Heaven, Saints, Angels, which must all perish and pass away, rather than the least iota of Truth: This double deposite Paul expresly mentions, and well nigh puts together; the one, in 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed, and am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day: The o­ther, in ver. 14. That good thing which is committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost. The heart of every Believer is the same to the Doctrines of Faith, and the Mysteries of the Gospel, that the Ark, and the golden pot were to the Tables of the Covenant, and the Manna in the time of the Law; it is the great repository into which God hath put those heavenly Treasures which were first hid in his bo­som, and from hence conveyed into ours, to be both pre­served and manifested to the glory of his grace: Now can any man rationally expect that God should keep his soul as the apple of the eye, because he professeth to have com­mended it unto him; and he not keep the sacred pledge of Faith which God hath deposited with him? Is it equal that Gods promises should stand valid to tye him to a per­formance, when the compact on mans part is wilfully bro­ken or neglected? In Stipulations and Covenants between man and man, in which the terms and agreements are on each side alike, he that makes the first breach, dissolves the [Page 9] contract, and sets free the other party; how much more then may God, whose promises of salvation are con­ditional, without the least impeachment of his faithful­ness, deny the fulfilling thereof to such as lightly esteem and set by the obligations that he hath put upon them? And that he thus will do, himself hath told us, Hebr. 8. 9. They continued not in my Covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord: Let none therefore flatter themselves of ob­taining a Crown of life and salvation, upon any cheaper rate than what God hath declared, the holding fast of their profession, the keeping the faith, the fighting the good fight; for were there as many Gates to Heaven, as there's stars shining in it, or Saints and Angels dwel­ling in it, yet they should all be shut against them, and they eternally be disappointed of their expecta­tion.

The second ground is drawn from the gifts and graces with which Believers are endowed, and obliged also to faithfulness in the use and exercise of them, in a double re­spect.

1. It is the intent of the Donor, that his gifts should be employed; he hath not given them any for shew, but for use. When the Lord, in the Parable, went into a far Countrey, he delivered to ten servants, ten pounds; but to all the same command, Occupy till I come, Luk. 19. 13. He fixeth no time of his return, but till then they must be trading: So 1 Cor. 12. 7. The manifestations of the Spirit are given to profit withal. The Original word, is [...], which denotes such a kind of profit, as redounds to a Com­munity. Data sunt non ipsorum causâ, sed Ecclesiae: They are given (saith Grotius) not for their sakes that possess them, but for the good of the Church; they have them, [Page 10] as an estate, in trust, which is not his to whom it is made over, but anothers rather, for whose benefit he is to im­prove it. How much then must such Christians be with­out excuse, that have received Talents from God in sundry kinds, and yet have hid them in a Napkin, rather than put them into the Bank? How sad will be their account, when he that can neither deceive, nor be deceived, must make up the Audit? Think of this, O ye slothful ones, who are rich in knowledge and wisdom, but yet have no heart to instruct and teach others. Think of this, ye, upon whom wealth and treasure flowes in like a River, and yet have an hand as withered as Jeroboams, that cannot be stretched out to the least good. Think of this, ye who have golden opportunities to become skilful in the Word of righteous­ness, which is able to build up you, and others, to eternal life, and yet blaze away a great part of the lamp of your time in fruitless speculations.

2. The nature and quality of Gods gifts and graces, call for a faithful use and exercise of them, in regard of this peculiar property which they have in them, to encrease by their communication; like the Widows oyle, that en­riched her by its pouring of it out; like the loaves in the Gospel, that were multiplied by breaking; like Wells, that grow better by drawing; like Metals, that grow brighter by using; but when they are not imparted, they are impaired; when not imployed, either lessened or ex­tinguished. Appian tells a story of one Geta, who in the time of the Civil Wars in Rome, did wear a glass before one of his eyes, that so he might be unknown to them, who else haply would have endangered his life; but when he took it away, though his eye remained, yet the sight was lost, and the Historian makes the Reason to be, [...], [Page 11] for the [...]ong not using of it. Thus it is with the gifts and graces of God, they oft wither, and come to little or no­thing, when they are not exercised. Now to what end hath God made them to be of such a nature and quality, differing from most other things, which grow lesser and weaker by communication? Is it not, that he might take away the pleas and excuses of men, which otherwise they would have for their not imparting of their gifts unto o­thers? Who would teach and instruct another, if he should thereby have his knowledge diminished? Who would make another partaker of his wisdom, if himself thereby should stand the more in need of counsel? But here no such Arguments can be urged, but rather the contrary; the using of them for others good, is like the Sareptans feeding the Prophet, which makes the little Meal in the Barrel not to waste, and the Oyle in the Cruce not to fail, 1 Kings 17. 14. Like the perfecting of habits, which are strength­ned by the reiteration of acts, but lost by a neglect; let therefore such whom God hath made stewards of manifold gifts, consider how much they are engaged to faithfulness and diligence, when without any dimunition of what they have, others are enriched; as the seal stamps the wax, as the fire heats the iron, or as the Sun enlightneth thou­sands of eyes; all without loss of figure, heat, or light; yea, when in so doing, themselves are advantaged, and have oft-times not an hair, but a cubit added to their spiritual stature.

A third ground to evince the necessity of fidelity, may be taken from the nearness and multiplicity of those Re­lations which are between God and every Believer: The Relations between one creature and another, as they are not so firm as those which are between God and a Belie­ver, [Page 12] so neither are they so many; for all created beings which move and work in a narrow sphere, can never branch and spread themselves into numerous stems: Who ever heard, that the same person was a spouse, a son, a servant, a subject, a steward, a witness? And yet by all these tyes do Believers stand related unto God; but that which makes them most deservedly remarkable, is not simply their number, but the property of faithfulness, which is the character that the Scripture hath stamped upon them all, and is so essential to the existence of every one of them in particular, as that without it they vanish and cease for to be. A wife must be faithful in all things, 1 Tim. 3. 11. And without it, what is she but an Harlot, and one that for­gets the Covenant of her God? Children must be faith­ful, Tit. 1. 6. else they are not their Fathers glory, but his shame and reproach. A servant must be faithful, Matth. 24. 45. or else he cannot be reckoned among his Masters Treasures, but Burdens. A subject must be faith­ful, Titus 3. 1. else he becomes a Rebel, and passeth into the worst of Miscreants. A steward, it is required that he be found faithful, 1 Cor. 4. 2. otherwise what is he, but a Thief, like Judas, who bare the Bag to enrich him­self? A witness must be faithful, one who will not lie, Prov. 14. 5. or else he is (as Solomon saith) a Maul, a Sword, and a sharp Arrow, Prov. 25. 18. Look then, O Christians, to your Relations, and tell me if faithfulness be not your Duty? Must you not lay down the name of Christians, or assume those things which make you so? Hath God betrothed you to himself in mercy, righteous­ness and truth, and may you break those golden [...]ands, and be guiltless? Hos. 2. 19. Hath he made you sons by A­doption, joynt-heirs with Christ, Rom. 8. 17. And may [Page 13] you be Prodigals, and leave your Fathers house? Hath he made you menial servants of his family and houshold, Eph. 2. [...]9. And may you be as those, qui magis saeculo vacant; quàm Deo; who (as Hierom speaks) spend more time in the Worlds service, than in Gods? Hath he dignified you to be stewards of the Oracles of God, 1 Pet. 3. 11. to give his servants their appointed food, and may you starve them by neglect, or poyson them with Error? Hath he chosen you to be his Witnesses, Isa. 43. 10. and will you be bri­bed to with-hold your Testimony for God? O that my words were as sharp goads to prick and put forward the slothful; as a shrill Trumpet to awaken the secure; as an heavenly Euge to strengthen the hands of those that mind faithfulness in their Profession; that so the Gospel might be adorned by all, and Believers so walk, Ʋt de illis malè lo­qui nemo possit sine mendacio; That none (according to Hieroms counsel) might be able to speak evil of them without lying; surely there is no better way to do it, than by considering the various Relations you stand in to God, which as on his part they put marks of honour upon you; so on your part they challenge service and duty to be re­turned to him with faithfulness.

A fourth ground, is from the great deformity which ap­pears in the waverings and inconstancy of such who change, who question, who let go the profession of the Faith which they should hold fast, as I shall shew in several particulars.

1. In Scripture it is called an halting, 1 Kings 18. 21. How long halt ye between two opinions? Is Elijah his questi­on to the Israelites, who walked in their Religion after the manner of lame persons, that go one step down, and ano­ther up; one while for Baal, and another while for God. [Page 14] In other places it hath the reproach of silliness set upon it, Hos. 7. 11. Ephraim is like a silly Dove without heart: To want gall as a Dove is commendable; but to want heart and understanding, so as to be made a prey to every sedu­cer, is a brand of infamy. Paul resembles it to childish­ness, which is an unsetled estate wherein fancy rules, and not reason: Be no more children, tossed too and fro, and car­ried about with every wind of Doctrine, Ephes. 4. 14. To be a man in years, and a child in stature is reputed mon­strous; but it is far more to be a man in stature, and a child in understanding. How opposite is such a condition to faith, which is not [...] a faint supposition of Ifs and Ands; but [...] a firm and sure ground that giveth a subsistence to the things that are hoped for? yea, how con­trary is it to God, whose glory it is, to be the same to day, ye­sterday, and for ever? Heb. 13. 8. Who is infinite in understand­ing, Psal. 147. 5. Who is faithful in what he hath promi­sed. Will he who is unchangeable, delight in professions of righteousness, which are like a morning dew? will he who is only wise, be pleased in the sacrifice of fools? or will he whose promises are Truth, take pleasure in dou­ble-minded persons, who are unstable in all their wayes?

2. Inconstancy and change, it is the guise of Hereticks, who are alwayes affecting Novelties, not only in words, but in Doctrines. Pelagius, as Austin reports, did four several times alter his opinion; and the Arrians had, as Hillary calls it, Menstruam & annuam fidem, every month or year a new faith al Such do, as those that paint their fa­ces, who are often laying on new complexion, else the de­fects which they strive to hide, would soon appear: But how uncomely this is for those that profess the faith of [Page 15] Christ, which hath alwayes continued as truly one, as the Sun in the Firmament (notwithstanding any parelia that might make weak persons sometimes to conceive other­wise) we may see by the chief of the Apostles, who to free himself from the least umbrage or shew of levity, doth first expostulate with the Corinthians, Did I use light­ness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? And then solemnly protests, As God is true, our word towards you, was not yea and nay, 2 Cor. 1. 17, 18. Surely incon­stancy, in what Subject soever it is, casts a dark shadow; but the more eminent the gifts and abilities of any person are, the more remarkable is the blemish that comes by it: Who doth not account the late Grotius among the first­born of the learned, in regard of his profound and vari­ous knowledge? and yet like Reuben, he lost the double portion of honour and respect that was due unto him, through that instability which was observed in him. Hence Rivet relates this story of him in his Book against him, That when he was a prisoner in his own Countrey, Prince Maurice being interceded with for his liberty, denied the granting of it, and pointing to the weather-cock upon his house, said, En Grotii Caput, Behold there Grotius his head. I speak not this to load the person, but the crime; and to shew that a Christian should not be as a Reed in the Wind, but as a Rock in the Sea, which amidst all dashings of the waves, stands immoveable.

3. Unstedfastness is vile in Gods sight, and carries more of a provocation in it, than many other sins, as may appear by the wrath which it kindles in his breast, and the judgments which he inflicts: How severely did God re­compence this sin upon Israel, who, Psal. 78. 59. Had [Page 16] dealt unfaithfully like their fathers and were turned aside like a broken Bowe: In the next verse it is said, He greatly abhor­red Israel, he forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into his enemies hand. So again, God denounceth a death upon offenders in this kind, which is made dreadful both by the hand which in­flicts it, and by the shame and reproach that attends it: The men that have transgressed my Covenant, which have not performed the words of the Covenant, which they made before me, &c. I will give them into the hand of them that seek their life, and their dead bodies shall be meat unto the Fowles of the Heaven, and to the Beasts of the Earth, Jer. 34. 18, 20. If then we may take the magnitude and dimensions of a sin by the punishment which God doth proportion and meet forth unto it, as questionless we may, because God in all his judgments aims at the clearing of his justice to the creature, and that he doth not without a cause, do any thing that he hath done: We may conclude that unstedfastness and falsness of heart in the matters of God, is a sin, mag­nae infamiae & reatus, of great infamy and guilt, leaving in the very punishment and indelible stain and blot upon the memory of the offendor.

A fifth ground to evince the necessity of faithfulness, is from the transactions and carriage of the great and last day, in which every man must give an account for himself to God, Rom. 14. 12. Then the sentence passeth not accord­ing to the greatness of place, or measure of gifts, but ac­cording to fidelity. It is not said, well done, rich, learned, or wise, but faithful servant: He only it is, who in the sight of men and Angels, is first commended, and then bountifully rewarded, Enter thou into thy Masters joy, Mat. 25. 21. As riches profit not in the day of wrath, so nei­ther [Page 17] wisdom nor learning. If then God should ask the Apostles question, 1 Cor. 1. 20. Where is the Scribe? where is the wise? where is the Disputer of this World? How si­lent and amazed would all stand! Alas! it is not videtur quod sic, probatur quod non, which will then stand any man instead; that day is not a time of arguing, or of pleadings, but of sentence, in which, as the faithful servant is re­warded, so the unfaithful is condemned. First, he is open­ly reproached, Thou wicked and shothful servant, thou oughtest to have put my money to the Exchangers, &c. Matth. 25. ver. 26, 27. and then finally judged, Cast ye the unprofitable ser­vant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnash­ing of teeth. ver. 30. O therefore, if ever you would lie down comfortably in your Grave, and lift up your heads joyfully when you shall arise out of it, be perswaded to pra­ctise this Duty of fidelity, which hath been discovered to be of such absolute importance, for the obtaining of eter­nal blessedness, as that if any shall still be regardless of it, what can we say, but as Lactantius once spake, Qui in vi­tiis sibi placent, nobis non credent, etiam si solem manibus geste­mus. Such who indulge themselves in their sins, will not believe us, though we carry the Sun in our hands; and so I pass to the third Query, which is to shew, why faithfulness must be persisted in unto death, and of this there are sun­dry grounds.

1. That our fidelity to Christ might parallel and an­swer the fidelity of Christ unto us. Ibi tu Christiane fige tui cursus profectusque metam, ubi Christus posuit suam. Do thou, O Christian (saith Bernard) there fix the bounds of thy Race and Progress, where Christ set his. He faint­ed not, nor was dismayed, untill he became, not only the Author, but the Finisher of our salvation. It was his love [Page 18] that held him upon the Cross, when death could not hold him in the Grave, though provoked by his enemies to come down that they might believe; but what would have be­come of our expected blessedness by him, if he had not conflicted with shame and pain, untill it terminated in death? Would it not have been as a foundation and build­ing without a top-stone, to which none could have joyful­ly shouted grace, grace? And yet, what bitter contradi­ction of sinners did he endure, in his effecting reconciliati­on for sinners? In his Person, denied to be the Son of God; in his Office, not owned to be the Messius; in his Doctrine, proclaimed to the people as a Deceiver; in his Miracles, re­proached as a Conjurer; in his Life, slandered as a Glutton and Wine-bibber; in his Death, reputed the worst of Ma­lefactors. What could men or Divels have done more, to have made him to sink under the weight of his burden? Is it not meet then, that we in Salvians phrase should be, Tam ingentis exempli parvi imitatores, in some weak mea­sure followers of so grand an example. If he loved us to the end, John 13. 1. is it not fit that we should take up Davids resolution, to keep his statutes to the end? Psal. 119. 33. If he became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, Phil. 2. 8. Should we not say, as Paul, That we are ready not to be bound only, but also to dye for the Name of the Lord Jesus? Acts 21. 13. Certainly if we could re­peat such a bloody sacrifice a thousand times over, his love might challenge it from us, if we do but throughly weigh his innocency, and our guilt; his worth, and our vile­ness.

2. The promise of reward is made only to perseverance, and that not by any secret and tacit condition implied, but in open and express terms: He that shall endure to the end, [Page 19] the same shall be saved, Matth. 24. 13. So again, Luk. 22. 28, 29. Ye are they which have continued with me in my tem­ptations, and I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that you may eat and drink at my Table. This promise of a Kingdom, and of a Table in Heaven, it is not to those that heard him, or to those that followed him, saith St. Chrysostom, but to them that continued with him. The same thing speaks the Apostle, who had well learned his Masters Doctrine, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tryed, he shall receive a Crown of life. Jam. 1. 12. The Crown is not set at the beginning of the Race, that men should run from it; nor in the middle, that they should run beyond it; but at the end, that all might run to it. And in this sense the Apostle encourageth Timothy, to lay hold of eternal life, 1 Tim. 6. 12. alluding to those, who in pursuing the prize, when they come near the Goal, stretch forth their hands to take hold of it. It is not by a sudden snatching at it, which a stander by may do and yet have no right unto it; but it is by striving lawfully, without which no man can be crowned. O, how should this startle diary and dewy Christians, whose goodness is soon scorched and dried up, and yet please themselves with hopes of eternal happiness! But if Religion were only a Paroxism, or a few faint wishes, who so wicked, but that he might be deemed a Christian? Balaam must be put in the Kalendar of Saints, and Jehu be ranked among the best of Kings. O that such would conscientiously remember that there are no promises that speak the least comfort to them; but there are threatnings that may turn their con­fidence into an amazement: What saith God, If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him? Hebr. 10. 38. Nay, it will go worse with them, than if they had [Page 20] never begun; It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy Commandment, 2 Pet. 2. 21. What can be spoken more to shew the sad end of such as begin in the Spirit, but end in the flesh; or to evince the absolute ne­cessity of fa [...]thfulness to the utmost period that it can be extended unto? And yet if this be not enough, con­sider,

3. That persevering in faithfulness is the great discrimi­nating character between a true Believer, and a formal Pro­fessor; between one whose heart is dyed in grain with a deep tincture of godliness, and him that is only dealbatus nomine Christiani, whited superficially over with the name of a Christian, as Austin expresseth it. In their egress or setting out, they both seem to be alike affected in their hope, joy, zeal, and resolution; but in their progress and continuance, the difference is as great, as between a Star, and a Comet; between a Spring, and a Torrent; or between a Reed, and a Cedar. The Hypocrites hope, is like the web or house of the Spider, which every Besom can easily de­stroy; his joy, is as the singing and chirping of the Grashopper, which ends with the Summer; his zeal, like flushings in the face, which go and come; like breath on steel, as soon off, as on; his resolutions, like small trenches, which any foot can both step over, and tread down: But the Believers hope, is like an Anchor, that is sure and sted­fast; his joy, is like the solace of the Be [...], which feeds up­on honey and sweetness in the sharpest winter; his zeal, is like the fire of the Sanctuary, which never goes out; his resolutions are like a Bowe of steel, which is not easily bro­ken. Now tell me, Brethren, would you willingly be numbred among those, who begin in the Spirit, but end in [Page 21] the flesh? would you be at once reproached by your con­sciences, and condemned by God, as mokers of God, Hy­pocrites, Deceivers of your own souls? would you want the blessed testimony in your own breast of your integri­ty in spiritual and holy services? If not, then keep up your faithfulness, and make it not the work only of a day, or some small remnant of your time, but of your whole life; for else you can never say with dying Hezekiah, Remember me, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in Truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which was good in thy sight, Isa. 37. 3.

4. It is requisite that Christian fidelity hold out to the last, and terminate only with life and being, in regard that God who promiseth, is eternal, and the Reward also promi­sed, is everlasting.

First, God is eternal, He inhabiteth eternity, Isa. 57. 15. He only hath immortality, 1 Tim. 6. 16. Now what com­munion can eternity have with a desultory levity, which is every moment some other thing than what it was? But constancy and perseverance (as Bernard saith) prae se fert imaginem aternitatis; it carries upon it an image and re­semblance of eternity, because it is opposite unto levity and change, which are utterly repugnant unto eternity, and because also it doth imply, that if the line of being were drawn out unto millions of Ages, it also would run parallel to it, and be co-extended with it; for should it in the least measure fall short of a Christians being, it could not be called perseverance, but Apostacy, and thereby he should lose the prize, which is given only to him that holds out to the end.

Secondly, The Reward promised, is everlasting, it is eter­nal life, an inheritance incorruptible, a Kingdom that can­not [Page 22] be shaken. Now is it meet, that he who takes Reli­gion as a Farm, and not as a Freehold, who will be a Tenant at his own will, and not at his Lords; who intends to hold it no longer than himself pleaseth, and throw up all when he listeth, that he should be made partaker of the same blessedness with them, who by patient continuance in well do­ing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality, Rom. 2. 7. What advantage then had David, by choosing Gods statutes as his inheritance? Psal. 119. 111. What the better should he be, who is willing to buy the Truth at any rate, but to sell it at no rate? Prov. 23. 23. If such who make the World their fee simple, and take only a lense of Gospel­profession for their own accommodations, should be as sure of Heaven at the last, as the most diligent and persevering Believer? But let no temporaries, whose faith and love are but for a time, deceive themselves with such vain hopes. Heaven and endless glory, are not such commodities that God will put off at such easie terms; it is a Kingdom that is praeparatum, but yet is rapiendum, it is prepared from eternity, but yet must be taken by violence, and holding to the end, that so in the end we may enjoy life and glory with­out end.

I have now finished what I propounded for the explica­tion of this great Duty of Christian constancy and fideli­ty, in dispatching these three Queries, which shew what it is, why absolutely necessary, and why to be persisted in un­to death; in which I fear I have dwelt so long, as to pre­judice those fruitful applications, which like the sacrifices of the Law, should be entire, and maimed in no part, in re­gard of their special usefulness, but I must through straits of time be enforced to contract both their length and num­ber.

1. Then, let me exhort you to make that your Duty, which Epaphras made his earnest prayer for the Colossi­ans, That they might stand perfect, and compleat in all the will of God, Colos. 4. 12. Three eminent blessings are comprized in that pithy Petition; a true and perfect know­ledge of the will of God, a sincere and full obedience unto it, and a firm perseverance in both, as that which sets the Crown upon each of the others head. Knowledge, is in order to practice and obedience, as the sculpture in the Seal is made in respect to the stamping of the wax; and an hap­py conjunction it is where these two meet; but yet no man is made compleat and perfect thereby, unless he stand fast, and continue therein unto the end. Whatsoever there­fore measure of gifts any of you are arrived unto, or are enriched with from God; be perswaded to continue with all fidelity in the doing of his will, that so you may like the good servants in the Gospel, both give up a joyful account, and receive a blessed reward. But because in Quin­tilians elegant comparison, men are as Bottles, which are more readily and better filled, by taking them in hand one by one, and pouring water into them; than by setting them together, and casting water upon them: Give me leave to make my application particularly, according to those di­stinct capacities in which you stand, and to speak unto you, as Ministers, as Christians, that so I may the more effectual­ly press this Duty upon you.

First, You who are Ministers, Guides and Leaders of the people of God, who sound the silver Trumpet of the Gospel, as the Priests under the Law did theirs, to animate Believers to fight the good fight, and to keep the faith; take heed that levity and inconstancy be not found in your Doctrine, or in your Example, which like a root of bitter­ness, [Page 24] will quickly spread to the defiling of many. If you deliver sometimes one thing as the undoubted truth of God, and another time, what is flatly contrary unto it, will not this breed Atheism, rather than Religion? and make you, who build again the things you once destroyed, to be Transgres­sors, Gal. 2. 28. Is not this the way to bring reproach upon your persons, that Demetrius like, ye make rather a trade and craft of your profession, than any conscience to God, by whom you are betrusted? Is not this to be a stum­bling block to the weak, and to overthrow their faith, whom you should strengthen? Is not this to proclaim to the World, that you care not what becomes of those souls for whom Christ dyed, and for whom you must give an ac­count? It is not a small sin in any, but in you it is a signal crime; it is as a spot in an Ephod, as a crack in the golden Bells of Aaron, as impure oyle in the lamp of the Sanctu­ary. O therefore let not Christ, for whom you ought to suffer reproach, be reproached by you! He can make up all your sufferings, by turning your Thorns into Crowns, your shame into glory; but what recompence can you make to him, for the injuries done by you to him, and his Truth? If you should unsay all again, who would believe you? If you should throw down your self at the Thresh­old of the Church, and bid them trample upon you as un­savoury salt, how few will either spare you, or pity you? If you do recover the lost peace of your conscience, yet how hardly will you regain your name? If Simon be once a Leper, the name will stick by him when the disease hath left him. Though he shew himself to the Priest, and be pronounced clean; though it be known to all that he is as free of it as themselves, yet he is like to carry the name of Simon the Leper with him to his grave, Matth. 26. 6. Ene­mies [Page 25] who watch for your haltings, if they have nothing at present that they can charge upon you, are apt upon all oc­casions to reproach you with former failings. Let us then Brethren, practice faithfulness, as well as preach it, and keep the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience, that so we may approve our selves to be the servants of Christ, and such as seek not worldly advantages, but to save both our selves and others.

Secondly, You who are Christians, As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as you have been taught, Col. 2. 6, 7. Be not Scepticks in Religion, so as to hold no­thing at all, which is utterly repugnant unto faith: Tolle assertiones, & Christianismum sustulisti: Take away (saith Luther) principles to be asserted, and you destroy Christi­anity; neither be you Changlings in your faith; Christi­ans only upon the light grounds of fancy, but upon the sure grounds of knowledge and evidence; understand what you believe, and then cleave unto it, as Davids soul did unto Jonathan. O it is the glory of Christians, to keep that good thing which is committed unto them, so as not to have it won from them by flatteries, or extorted from them by threatnings, or to be disputed out of it by Sophisms. And here, how might I take up a complaint, that this Crown of glory is fallen from our head, where multitudes of Professors have made such defections from the Truth, as former Ages cannot parallel! What Article of the faith hath not openly been questioned, but perem­ptorily denied? What monstrous births have been cryed up, as the genuine off-spring of Gospel-light, when Satan, without transforming himself into any such likeness, hath been the Parent of them? I shall not offend sober ears in [Page 26] mentioning the blasphemies that some have uttered, but exhort you in the words of the Apostle, 2 Pet. 3. 17. Ye therefore Beloved, seeing you know these before, beware, lest ye also being led away with the errour of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness; which, that you may the better keep and preserve, I shall briefly suggest some directions that may be useful to effect it, and some Arguments that may per­swade you to the practice of it.

1. If you would be faithful to Christ, be sincere in your profession of him, make Davids prayer and desire to be yours: Let my heart be found in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed, Psal. 110. 80. Religion which is begun in Hypocrisie, will certainly end in Apostacy, which alwayes carries with it reproach and ignominy. The spring oft-times of a feigned profession promiseth much, having in it a ver­dure and beauty that is fair to the eye, but yet suddenly withereth for want of a root to feed it; who would not have expected an Harvest from the stony ground, where the seed sown came up so quickly? but yet that which was the cause of its hasty growth, was the cause also of its defection, it came up soon, because it had no depth of earth, and it withered also away for the want of it. I have read a story of two Kings, the one Matthias King of Hun­gary, the other, George, King of Bohemia, That upon dif­ference in a point of Religion, did commence a War that lasted ten years, and then at length came to this strange agreement, That their two fools should determine the controversie by fifty-cuffs; who would ever have thought that the beginning of such an hot contention, could have had such an issue? By the War, great was the zeal which was pretended to Truth and Religion; but the end shew­ed how little they valued it, or rather, how much they [Page 27] scorned it: And such will alwayes be the issue that those make, who take up spiritual duties upon fleshly principles. Do I (saith Paul) purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? 2 Cor. 1. 17. If therefore you would persevere to the end, let your aims be purely spiritual, and without any mixture of carnal designs, not making God the object of your worship, and your selves the end, but him both.

2. If you would hold out to the end, keep firm your u­nion and communion with Christ, who is the Fountain of all a Christians abilities; in him we can do every thing, Philip. 4. 13. without him nothing, John 15. 6. Con­stancy and fidelity is not [...], but [...]; not a moral habit acquired by industry, but a divine gift and grace communi­cated unto Believers by Christ, from whom there is a con­tinual efflux of life and power. A straw is not the stron­ger by lying upon a Rock, because the strength of the Rock is inherent in its self, and not transient; it is a dead, and not a living Rock: But Christ, as he hath life and strength in himself, so hath he both for Believers: When therefore you find or feel any aguish fits of incon­stancy creeping upon you, whereby your faith is shaken, and your love waxeth cold; have recourse then forthwith to Christ, and touch him by the hand of faith, and vertue will go forth from him to heal you, as it did the woman with the bloody issue, who no sooner touch'd the hem of his garment, but she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague, Mark 5. 29.

3. Arm your selves with courage and patience, both to do, and to suffer whatsoever you may be called unto: Both the branches of Fortitude are necessary for a Souldi­er, and they are no less useful for a Christian, who must [Page 28] have a back of patience to endure all; all hardness, as well as an edge of valour to set upon all difficulties, and to go through all dangers, not shrinking at death it self. Those many colours that the Camelion turns it self into, Aristotle ascribes to extream fear, which, how true it is, I will not dispute; but certain it is, That pusillanimity in a Christian, is the great cause of all that inconstancy which is found in them: Did they fear God much, they would fear men very little; the true fear of him, would swallow up all the vain fears of men, as Moses his Rod, did the Rods of the Ma­gitians What made some in the Primitive Times, who were called Libellatici, to sign the denial of their faith with their own hand, but fear? What made others, who were named Traditores, to deliver up the Scriptures into their enemies hand, as a token of their renouncing of them, but fear? What caused others, who were stiled Thurificantes, to throw incense into the fire, that they might redeem their lives by such homage performed to the Idols, but fear? Let therefore courage animated by faith take place in you, and you will readily overcome both frowns and flatteries, saying, as that noble Martyr in Basil, They can threaten me with no worse thing than Hell, nor pro­mise me any better thing than Heaven.

4. Make use of the examples of the Prophets and Saints of God, according to the counsel of the Apostle, James 5. 16. who have fulfilled the commands of Christ with an undaunted courage, and born the Cross of Christ with an invincible patience: Examples are oftentimes made use of, as pleas, to justifie the doing of evil, and have also a mortal influence to draw and win others to pra­ctice the like sin. Paul attributes to Peters dissimulation, a power of cogency, in making others to do as he did: [Page 29] Why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jewes? Gal. 2. 14. May they not then be improved, as effectual helps, in strengthning the hands of others in well-doing, while they behold the courage and constancy of many, who have trodden the same paths before them? Do we not read of some, who for Christs Name have taken joyfully the spoyling of their goods? Hebr. 10. 34. Of others, Who esteemed the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt? as Moses did, Hebr. 11. 26. Of others again, Who were tortured, not accepting of delive­rance! Hebr. 1 [...]. 35. Have we not read of others, who have kissed their chains, who have embraced the stake at which they were to suffer? Now have not we the same cause to bear witness unto with them? Have not we the same recompence of reward to encourage us, which they had? Have not we the same God and Saviour to honour, and to love? Did he not suffer as much for us, as for them? Why then should not we endeavour to follow them in their steps, and hold fast our confidence unto the end? They have shewed us that poverty, reproaches, sufferings, bonds, and death it self, which have a ghastly aspect to the eye of the World, are no such evils, but that a Believer may rejoyce in them, and triumph over them; let us there­fore, that we be neither wearied, nor faint in our minds, set before us the Armies of Saints and Martyrs, that in all Ages, by faith and patience have inherited the pro­mises.

I shall now make no other supplement to this Applica­tion, of persevering in your fidelity to God, to which you have been both exhorted and directed; but only a brief addition of two or three Arguments that may perswade to it, as the Coroms of the whole.

First, God will kindly take, and faithfully remember your constant adherence to him, and to his Truth; all that you have done, or suffered for him, shall be registred in his Book, Malachi 3. 16. All your tears that you have shed before him, shall be put into his Bottle, Psal. 56. 8. Yea, those things that you have forgotten, the Lord will re­mind, Mat. 25. 44. The Saints did not remember the kind­nesses that they had done to Christ, but he tells them how, and when they did it. The sins of Judah which are writ­ten with a pen of Iron, and with the point of a Diamond, Jer. 17. 1. are not so firmly written, as your services to God; they are graven upon the Tables of their hearts, but you, and your works, are writ in his breast; well might the Apostle say, God is not unrighteous, that he should forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed to his Name, Hebr. 6. 10. Who then would not serve faithfully such a God, who forgets none of our services, and remembers none of our sins, Jer. 31. 14.

The second Argument, is that of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 15. 58. Be ye stedfast, immoveable, alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know, your labour is not in vain in the Lord. As he exactly records all you do, so he will abundantly recompence every Duty and Act of obedience done by you. A cup of cold water given to a Disciple, which costs nothing, unless it be the drawing of it out of the Well, or the taking it up out of the Spring, shall not want its reward, Matth. 10. 42. If such mean works be regarded, never question the greater; go into the Vineyard, and labour, but ask not what shall be thy wages; it is enough God hath said, your labour shall not be in vain; and yet if you would know, who can tell you? Doth not the Scripture say, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, [Page 31] neither have entred into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, 1 Cor. 2. 9. But yet if a weak and imperfect glimpse of what is laid up for you, and shall certainly be given to you, would add any strength unto your hands, or make you like Jacob, who after his vision, went chearfully on his journey, Gen. 29. 1. Hearken a little to what I shall in a lisping and stammer­ing way declare, You shall have God himself to be your Reward, who is infinite in power, and can remove all things that may hurt or offend; infinite in bounty, and can give all things that may delight or satisfie; infinite in con­tinuance, and can, and will perpetuate your blessedness to Eternity, in the fruition of himself; cum quo solo, & de quo solo, & in quo solo anima intellectualis verè beata est; with whom only, and in whom only, and through whom only the understanding soul of man findeth, and everlast­ingly enjoyeth; as Austin pithily expresseth it in his Confessions.

The third Argument to prevail upon you, is, That you serve the Lord Christ, with whom there is no respect of persons, Coloss. 3. 25. It is Ambrose his observation, and others of the Ancients also, that the Holy Ghost hath pur­posely placed Lazarus, that was so poor, in the bosome of Abraham that was so rich, Luk. 16. 22. To teach us, that rich and poor, if found faithful in the Kingdom of Grace, have an equal interest in the Kingdom of Glory. Do not think, that because your estate is low, your parts weak, your Talents few, that therefore God will not regard your person, or accept of your services, as he will of others, who have a greater measure of gifts and abilities: That which God eyes, and that which he crowns in his servants, is Truth and Fidelity; the gifts are his, but the improve­ment [Page 32] is yours; and if you shew the same diligence that others do, and hold out unto the end, your reward will be as certain, if not as great as theirs, and your acceptance will be as much. The sacrifice of a pair of Turtles in the Law, was a sweet savour unto the Lord, as well as the Bullock, Levit. 1. 17.

A second Application that flows from this Duty of per­severing faithful unto the death, is, the refuting of that fond dotage of the Priscillianists, who anciently taught, That they might say, or deny, swear, or forswear, so that they did but adhere to the Truth with their hearts: An opinion it is, which in difficult and doubtful times, will obtain haply its end, to save the skin from danger, but will certainly destroy the soul; it makes Religion only a Plea­sure-boat, in which a man may put forth to Sea in a fair and calm season, but if any gusts or stormy weather should a­rise, may again forthwith betake himself to the shoar, and not unnecessarily hazard either his person or Vessel: But how many pieces of the Christian Armour doth this ef­feminate Doctrine make useless? What need the loyns to be girt about with Truth, as opposite either to Errour or Hypocrisie, when the lips and heart may be so differing? Why should any man put on the breast-plate of righteous­ness in an holy Conversation, if an external compliance with the worst of vanities, will stand him in better stead? What cumber and toyle must it be for a Believer to take to himself the Shield of Faith, the Sword of the Spirit, the Hel­met of salvation, & to have his feet shod with the preparati­on of the Gospel of Peace, if he never need to fight a stroak, or to make any resistance? What needed Peter to have wept bitterly, when he denied his Master, as long as his heart and affection were still towards him? O how unwise were [Page 33] the Martyrs, prodigally to shed their blood, to expose them­selves to the teeth of Beasts, to the flames of fires, to Racks, to sharp Stakes and Precipices, when they might have gone such an easie and fair way to Heaven? Euripi­des the Tragedian (as Aristotle reports) was questioned for his life, for uttering this Verse in his Hippolytus, ‘ [...],’ ‘ Jurata lingua est, animus injuratus est,’ The tongue is sworn, but the mind is unsworn; and the Title of the Accusation was, That he taught the people to forswear and perjure themselves. What then do such men deserve to suffer, who, to save a little trouble to the flesh, durst invent such execrable blasphemies, that carry a repugnancy to the light of nature, and put Christians up­on the doing of that, which men that have not rased out all the characters and impressions of conscience, cannot but detest and abhor? I should not have mentioned this old heresie, had it slept quietly in his Grave; but that there are yet some specters and walking images of it, found in the principles and practices of many, who can go to Mass for the Musick sake, and sit bare out of civility, because o­thers are uncover'd, and all the while reserve their faith en­tire unto themselves; but if such fig-leaves can hide their nakedness, that themselves behold it not, yet surely God will find it out, and ask them what is become of that glo­rious robe of faith and profession with which they were once cloathed? Let not those then who are followers of Christ, [Page 34] and would be owued by him as such in the great day, suf­fer themselves so to be deluded by the arts or practices of any, as to conceive, that they may cleave to his Truth with their hearts, and yet dissemble it; yea, gain-say it with their mouths. Hath a Christian more latitude in this re­spect, than any other Religion whatever? Do not all peo­ple walk every one in the Name of his God? Micah 4. 5. And may a Christian walk in the name of any god? May he as freely bow in the Temple of Rimmon, as in the Tem­ple of Christ, and yet be only the servant of Christ? What mean then those Scriptures, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with dark­ness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? 2 Cor. 6. 14, 15. So again, Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing, go ye out of the midst of her, be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord, I [...]a. 52. 11. Surely these commands of God, must be as vacated and repealed Statutes, or else they will one day stand as evi­dences against those, who presume to take a liberty which God hath not allowed, in being present at Idolatrous As­semblies, and then think they can readily clear themselves from guilt, by telling others that though they were pre­sent in body, they were absent in spirit, not owning in the least that with their hearts, to which they seemed to yield an outward complyance: But such shifts, which are more thin than a Cobweb, are no better than the handkerchief of the adulterous woman, with which, when she hath eaten, she wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness, Prov. 30. 20.

I have now finished what I purposed to speak concern­ing the Duty enjoyned, Be thou faithful unto death; that which remains, is the promise annexed, And I will give thee a Crown of life: And is it not pity, that through straits of time they should be separated in the Sermon, which are coupled together in the Text? It might haply put an edge upon your affections, and excite you to a greater mea­sure of diligence, to hear the bounty of Christ unfolded, who makes all his servants to be no less than sons for love, heirs for birth-right, and crowned Kings for dignity; and yet when I assay to do it, I am, methinks, as a man stand­ing upon a Rock, and fathoming a deep and bottomless Sea, who after he hath let fall his sounding lead, forthwith calls for more line, and when a second and third addition is made, still calls, more line, more line, and at last falls from sounding, to admiring its unsearchable depth: And so must I, after I have uttered all the conceptions that men and Angels can furnish me with to express the riches of Christs love, call still for more, and then end in astonishment, and say with the Apostle, O the riches of God! yet if you will see somewhat of it, I shall in a few particulars shew you his bounty, by comparing it with those services which he crowns.

1. The reward promised, is perfect blessedness; it is life that cannot end in death; it is not like Adams in in­nocency, who was left free to stand, or to fall; it is a Crown without, and above a Cross; it is a Canaan, not flow­ing with milk, but with rivers of joy and pleasure, which are free from mixture that may debase, and from vanity, which may make them naufeous: But alas! how imper­fect [Page 36] are all our services which are thus rewarded? when laid in the balance, they are found too light; when tryed by the touch-stone, they are of a course alloy. If Gospel sincerity did not stand for legal perfection, if endeavours and desires did not pass for performances, what would be­come of the best of Saints? Is it then not matter of just wonder, that such services which the Law would not for­give, Christ should reward? If they were perfect, they were but our Duty, and could not deserve the least degree of glory; no more than a glow-worm for its shining, could challenge to be turned into a star; and yet now when spotted, they are crowned with life.

2. The reward promised is a manifold good: In the Proposition it appears as some one particular thing, but in the enjoyment it is eminently a manifold, yea, an infinite good, and comprehends blessings more for number, as well as greater for worth, than the heart of man could wish to it self, if it should spend an eternity in nothing else. What is it that a Crown of life doth not take in, and encircle within its compass? It contains all the thoughts of God from everlasting to make his chosen happy; it includes all the good which Christ by his blood and death hath pur­chased, and which the Spirit by his Office is to apply, and to assure us of: But how small is the number of our servi­ces, when our Omissions exceed our Duties, when our ig­norance of Gods will is more than our knowledge, and our backwardness to do it more than our diligence: We can­not say of our acts of obedience, as David speaks of the thoughts of Gods love unto us, How great is the sum of them? If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand, [Page 37] Psal. 139. 17, 18. Alas! if our prayers, tears, fastings, alms, mortifications of sin, acts of worship, were all sum­med up, their number would be, like the few Trees of a Forrest, which a child may write, Isa. 10. 19. like two or three Berries in the top of the uttermost Bough of the Olive-Tree, and four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, Isa. 17. 6. like a thin Harvest, which fills not the arm of the Reaper, much less the threshing­floor: Is it not then riches of mercy, which rewards such persons, whose sins are numberless, and whose duties are few?

3. The promised reward is an endless good: Our work hath an end, but our wages hath no end; the seed-time in which we sowe is short, but the harvest which we rep is eternal: We are faithful only to death, but we are blessed for ever; if we lived as many years as Methuselah lived dayes, yea, as the World hath stood minutes, in an exact and perfect doing of the will of God, we could ne­ver justly have asked, that our recompence should be eter­nal? And yet, what no creature could ever plead, Christ hath freely given unto us, for a few years, shall I say, or a few dayes service? Oh how willingly would I expatiate my self in this pleasing Theme to make you and my self sensible of this transcendent goodness and bounty of Christ who rewards services, which are for their nature imperfect, for their number few, and for their continuance short, with a Crown of endless glory: But I must break off, and leave you to admire.

I come now (as it will be expected) to speak of our [Page 38] Reverend Brother, and servant of Christ, whose death hath occasioned this sad meeting; and I could have wish­ed, that this task might have been managed by some more able hand, he being a Subject meet to exercise, both the tongue and pen of a skilful Workman: And yet what need I to make such a wish? when he was never ambitious of a Panegyrick, being far more desirous to do well, than to hear well; and to have his works to praise him in the Gate, than an Orator in the Desk; and to live rather in the hearts of men, than in their mouths: A Crown of breath is a poor and low end for any man to design to himself, in what he doth; but far more in a Minister, whose aim should be heavenly, as well as his work: I shall not therefore make it my drift, so much to commend him, as to recom­mend to you some things which were observable in him, so as to make him a real pattern to us all for our imi­tation.

1. He was exemplary in faithfulness: I may say of him, as the Apostle doth of Gaeius, the second Epistle of John, ver. 5. Thou dost faithfully whatsoever thou dost; as a friend he was faithful in his love, being such a friend (as Solo­mon saith) loves for ever, Prov. 17. 17. As a Minister, he was faithful and persevering in the Truth, his Doctrine was not yea and nay, but in Christ yea; and in his sick­ness, he more than once professed, that he was so fully per­swaded of those Gospel Truths which he had both preach­ed and practised, as that he should willingly live and dye in the acknowledgment of them: As an Husband and Parent he was faithful, being careful about their welfare, but not distrustful. As a Subject he was faithful to his [Page 39] Prince, and was upon that account a Sufferer as well as o­thers, because he would neither mingle nor meddle with those who were given to change, but did fear God and the King.

2. He was exemplary in his diligence in the work of his Ministry; in which, I think, he exceeded many, but fell short of none; his work was pleasing to him, and he had much rather sweat in the Vineyard, than stand idle in the Market place; the constant labour and pains which he did therein undergo, were such, as were beyond his strength, and laid the foundation of those distempers which did first break, and then ruine that firm habitude of body, which he seemed to have above many of his Brethren.

3. He was exemplary in an holy and blameless Con­versation: It is the saving of one, That if any men were born without original sin, they should be Ministers; if any could live without actual sin, they should be Ministers; if there were any venial sin, it should not be in Mini­sters; so exceedingly is purity requisite to that Office: I do not speak this, as if I would thereby exempt him from any infirmities of the flesh, which the best of Saints do both find and feel: But yet I cannot but tell you, what I had from himself, That it was above thirty years since it plea­sed God to bring him to the sight of his sins, and his need of a Saviour, and to bow his heart to the obedience of his will, and that since that time (through the grace of God) his consci­ence did not accuse him of any scandalous and gross sin, which might blemish his Profession, or [...]and Religion. I speak it not (saith he) to boast of mine innocency, but thankfully to [Page 40] bless God who hath kept me, who else should have fallen as well as others: And if it be an honour to be in Christ before others, as Paul makes it to be, Rom. 16. 7. So it is a great glory and comfort to a Believer, to be Mnasons in the faith, and to be kept from those slips and falls which have brought down the hoary heads of many Christians with sorrow unto the Grave.

In his sickness, which was at least nine or ten months, there were many things worthy of our knowledge and remembrance.

1. That quiet and calm frame of heart which he en­joyed in that part of his weakness, wherein his friends and himself were not without some hopes of his recovery; he then told me, That he enjoyed more peace and serenity of con­science, than ever he expected; and though he had no glorious comforts, yet had he no sad and discouraging fears; he could willingly submit himself to the hand of God, whatever the is­sues might be.

2. The increase both of his comforts and confidence, when the decayes of his strength were most sensible and visible; as the outward man perished, so the inward man was renewed, and filled with joy and comfort; as those many expressions which fell from him did abundantly testi­fie: At one time, when there was some speech about his weakness, he suddenly break forth in such affectionate and vehement expressions, as still abide with me, and ring, as it were, in my ears: I am going to eternity, I am going to eternity, unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusa­lem, [Page 41] and to an innumerable company of Angels, to the gene­ral Assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to God the Judge of all. Some few dayes after coming again to visit him, he said, I had thought I should never have seen you more, so near was I in my own, and others apprehensions unto death, being not able for some space to discern or see any body; but my comforts were such, as that I could not have born them, if they continued in the heighth in which I then injoyed them; desirous I was then to have gone, but if it is Gods pleasure I should stay longer, I am content.

Lastly, His patience was remarkable under many wea­risom dayes and nights, in which he not only wanted rest, but was afflicted with faint sweats, with pains in all parts, which drew groans and sighs often from him: These things (saith he) through the weakness of the flesh, will make me to groan, but I do not (I bless God) repine or murmur: And when his weakness was such, as that he could not speak much, when I told him I was glad to perceive, that death, though it was near, was not yet dread­ful to him; he forthwith replied, That Christs death stood between him and death: And now tell me Brethren, Is he not a fair Copy for us to write after? May we not by him learn to live holily, and dye comfortably? It is not meet, that these things mentioned, should [...] be scattered, as flowers upon his Herse, but to be as counsels and helps to us in the like time, which must, and will come, and how soon, who knows! All that I shall say more, is,