WORK & REWARD, OR THE TESTIMONIAL OF A BELIEVER FOR HIS Entrance into GLORY, Examined and approved: In a SERMON at the Interment of the Virtuous LADY, Margaret St. John, Wife to the Right Worshipful, Sir Alexander St. John, Septem. the 3. 1656. By Francis Raworth, Teacher to the Church at Shoreditch. London, Printed by T. Maxey, for John Rothwell, at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-Row in Cheapside, 1656. To his Honoured Friend, The Right Worshipful Sir Alexander Saint John. Honoured Sir, THe great Design of God in this World, is to exercise man; and the greatest interest of man, is to glorify God, who hath provided the Touchstone of his Word to try our hearts by, and the Balance of his works to weigh our Lives in: So much strength as we have in a day of temptation, so strong we are; and since Temptation is for our Probation, we have as much cause to bless God for our support under Trials, as for our deliverance from trials: It is true, Satan hath his Sieve, and his aim is to separate the Wheat from the Chaff; to give life to our sins, by the death of our Graces; but God hath his Fan in his hand, and his design is to separate the Chaff from the Wheat, to give life to our Graces by the death of our sins. I must acknowledge, That God hath lately put into your hands a bitter Cup to drink off (in the decease of your Virtuous and Beloved Consort) only this I presume doth support you, That your eyes are opened to see that it was of your Fathers mingling: This affliction is a sharp Arrow, but it is shot out of a sweet hand; amara sagitta, ex dulci manu Dei (as the Father speaks) How excellent a thing is it, when God's Rod is upon our backs, to have our hands upon our mouths, and not to murmur? While unbelief commenceth an Action against, and complains of the heavy hand of God to the World, for us to complain rather of our own evil hearts to God? Your experience (Sir, I trust) in God's School, hath acquainted you with the Equity of his Discipline and Pedagogy. Oh! What an advantage have we over Satan, when we understand the intent, and and possess the fruit of every Cross; when we can see our Lashes to be our Lessons, our Corrections to be our Instructions, our Crosses to be the Executioners of our Corruptions. It was an Heavenly Prayer of him that said, Lord, I do not desire that the Burden should be taken off, but that I might have stronger shoulders to bear it: And an Heroic Experience of him that said, If any man would ride post to Heaven, let him get up upon the Cross. The truth is, every affliction is God's Messenger, and every one of his Messengers have their Errand to deliver: The Rod must be heard, or the Word will never be felt: Though all that are corrected are not Gods children, yet all that are Gods children are corrected. Afflictions are favours, and therefore when God threatens that he will show mercy no more, he threatens that he will afflict no more. Ephraim is joined to Idols, let him alone. Lord, rather (let every gracious heart say) let thine hand be laid on me, then that I should be cast out of thy hand; rather frown on me, then that thou shouldst turn thy Face from, and not look on me. But the great Advantage of our trial, is to come; here the Language of the rod is easy and plain, but the Dialect of that Language is hard and difficult to be known; conformity and self-denial, are indisputably the meaning of every blow, but we are disposed to misconter Providence in Particular; what God intends only for our exercise, we pretend is done out of his anger: And therefore where the Text is obscure, we must be wary in writing Commentaries, we must take heed of turning his Reubarb into Ratsbane, by reading wrath where God never wrote it: There will come a time, when God will interpret his own mind, and satisfy us, not only in the Regularity and justice of his Rods, but in the Reason and suitableness of them; why we are almost burned and consumed, while others were but singed; why he drew so much blood from us, more than from others that seemed more exorbitant: God loves not to be stinging, like the Bee, he exhibits honey freely, but he stings upon provocation; his wisdom and our necessity, weigh and prescribe every drop of gall that is put into our Cups, and every lash of the Rod that is laid on our backs. A Cordial is fit for this man, a Corrosive fit for another: Such a Christian will be wakened by the light of a Candle, another stands in need of a Clap of Thunder: How sweet is it to justify God, when he condemns us? At last day we shall say, The Lord knew our distemper, and he let us blood in the principal Vein; if we had not perished, we had perished: His Sunshine melted us, his Hammer broke us. Blessed affliction! that made us see more ugliness and emptiness in the Creature, and more excellency in God, that weaned our affections from the world, and occasioned our more serious thoughts of Eternity. It may satisfy us, That God dealeth with his, as the Persians, I take it, do with the offending children of their Princes; they correct their Royal Garments in public, but let their Persons go free; our Bodies are beaten, and our Souls are bettered: Here we must be polished by Trials, and hewn by Hammers, and hereafter we shall be laid into God's Building; Nunc foris per flagella tundimur, ut intus in Templum Domini disponamur, Afflictions are the fruit of his Wisdom, Repentance our fruit of his Afflictions: The Lord grant that all our storms may drive us nigher to our Harbour. I should humbly crave excuse for this freedom, but that I know your Ingenuity, and that your condition requireth support; and as remembering that words spoken in season, are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver. I am sorry of so sad an occasion of presenting this, yet so seasonable a subject to you: I request your acceptance of it; the advantage whereof, is the desire of, Your worships much obliged, to serve in the Lord, F. R. From my Sudy in Shoreditch, Decem. 20. 1656. Revel. 14.13. And I heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. IN these Words we have two things; The Work, and the Reward of a Christian. In the work of a Christian we have, 1. Something Employed: It is supposed, That those that die in the Lord, do first live to the Lord; For as it is impossible for one that lives well to die ill, so it is impossible for one that lives ill to die well; for on that to the last lives to the Devil, to die to the Lord. 2. Something Expressed: They are such as die in the Lord: Some make a difference, between dying for, and dying in the Lord, as if that belonged only to Martyrs, this to all true Professors: Martyrs hic intelligi concedimus solos vero negamus. Gorhan. But the substance is, That when God's children have done their work, they go to bed, their Lusts die in them, and they themselves die in the Lord, as Children in their Father's arms. Secondly, As we have the work, so likewise we have the wages, or rather reward of Christians: And that 1. Generally: They are said to be blessed, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord: They are blessed in Hope while they live, and blessed in Possession when they die: As a Christian cannot be fully happy before death, so he cannot at all be miserable after death. 2. Particularly and Punctually: And that, 1. Negatively: Because they rest from their Labours; their labours in suffering, their labours under sin, the labours of their Callings, and subjection unto Temptations: The World was their Tempestuous Sea, Heaven is their Port and Harbour; the Earth was the place of their working, Heaven the place of their resting: In portu navigunt quare sopor fessis. 2. Positively, and their works do follow them: Though they leave the world, yet they leave not their works behind them: The authority and warrant of all this is premised. This Oracle is not the Invention of man, but the voice of God; It is the Spirit (of God who knows the mind of God) that saith so, Thus saith the Spirit. Quaery, Why is it said from henceforth? Were not those that died in the Lord before, happy? Answer. Some say the Emphasis on this Particle, henceforth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, q. d. Times will now be troublesome; and as it was their blessedness that lived to the Lord, at any time to die for the Lord; so especially it is their Blessedness to die then: It is some mercy to die before times of Judgement, as it is a mercy for some to die in times of judgement. Secondly, Others refer it to their Blessedness immediately after their death; that is, their Souls sleep not in their Bodies till the Resurrection, as some dreamingly affirm, they are immaterial and immortal, and ●o sooner do they go out of their earthly Tabernacles, but presently they ascend to Heaven: It is probable that the Spirit hereby would also presignify by way of contradiction, the Opinion of the Papists about Purgatory, as if the souls of good men did take that stage in their way to Glory: No, saith the Spirit, their Purgatory is in this world; here they are purified, and immediately upon the dissolution of the union between their souls and Bodies; as their Bodies are blessed in the hope of a Resurrection, so their Souls are presently blessed in possession; those that die in the Lord, are thenceforth, or immediately blessed. But I principally on this solemn occasion, pitch on the last clause; And their works do follow them: First, for the Explication, then for the Application. 1. For the Explication here are two Queries to be answered. Quaerie 1. What is meant by works? Answ. There are 1. Evil works, as there are evil workers: The works of the flesh are manifest, uncleanness, idolatry, strife and contentions, Gal. 5.19, 20. At death the sins of the godly leave them, and their Graces only follow them; there sins shall be cast not into a shallow river, where they may appear, and swim up aloft upon the waters, but into a deep Sea of Oblivion: We must remember our evil works, and God will forget them; we must forget our good works, and God will remember them. 2. There are also good works, or as the Apostle phraseth it, fruits; such as are gentleness and joy, temperance and meekness, Gal. 5.22, 23. And these are those works that follow those that die in the Lord. 1. Specially works of Charity; as they say of Oswald King of Denmark, that in regard of his liberality to the poor, his right hand, though he was dead, withered not: Works of Charity, are in Scripture in a peculiar manner called good works, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by way of principality and eminency, above many other works that yet are good, in regard of the influence they have for to produce and give a lustre to all good works. 2. More largely: Though works of charity be good works, and necessary to salvation, yet there are many good works, besides works of charity: Faith is the work of God, and a good work; repentance is the work of God, and a good work. Charity is a Celestial Orb, but not large enough for all the stars of good works to shine and move in: Therefore when the Apostle speaks here of (good) works, we are thereby to understand in general all works that are good; not only a single Work, not only their Charity, but their Faith, their Repentance, their Holiness, they all do follow them. Quaerie 2. What is meant by their works? A. 1. Here is noted propriety: Their own works follow them, not the works of other men; which Criticism suggesteth to us. 1. The Absurdity of the Papist, who maintains that a man may be so righteous, as that he may not only merit Heaven for himself, but for others also. It was an arrogant saying of a Romish Pharisee, That he had done all for his own Salvation many years ago, and stayed in the world after that, only to gather treasure for others: But as a wicked man shall perish by the hand of his own unbelief, so the Just shall live by his own faith; not the Prayers and Performances, not the duties and do of others, but their (own) works follow them. 2. The formal interest of a Believer in his works: They are his works, not because he is the fountain, but because he is the subject of his Graces: Sin otherwise is most of all things ours; yet in a sense, as nothing is so much our own before we work as our will, so nothing is so much our own as our works when they are done; they cleave to us, whether as fomentations to nourish us, or as Corrasives to gnaw upon us, that lies in the nature of the work, but ours they are and cling to us; our Work seem to be more ours, than our Faith is ours; our Works are ours as we have done them, our Faith ours as we have received it: Faith is ours as our Goods are ours, Works are ours as our Children are ours, Certè nos operamur, sed Deus operatur in nobis ut operemur. Querie 3. What is meant by this, that our Works are said to follow us? A. Though the acts of Grace be transient, yet their virtue is everlasting: They follow us, Notes, 1. Their company to glory: As a Christian follows his work on earth, so his works shall follow or accompany him to heaven; he goes not out of the world naked and void of grace, as he came into the world; but he carries the garments of salvation, the extrinsic and Red coat of Justification, the intrinsic and internal white coat of Sanctification along with him, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they follow or accompany him. 2. Their inseperability: Death may rob them of their estates, but death cannot plunder them of their Graces; Death may separate their heads from their bodies, but shall never separate or take their Crowns from their heads. The ambitious man cannot carry his honour with him; the Mammonist cannot carry his Gold with him; but the godly man shall carry his godliness, his holiness, his works with him, as the shadow follows the Sun, or as the sequacious Ivy (hedera sequax) clings to the Oak. 3. Their Honour and Dignity of State: Grace, we say, is Glory begun, and Glory is Grace perfected: I, as God is glorious in holiness, so a godly man is glorious in holiness, he is glorious in Grace, his Grace is his glory. As when a Nobleman or Ambassador is to attend on or visit a Prince or Emperor, his Gentlemen in their Braveries, and his servants in their Liveries, wait on him to the Palace or Presence Chamber: So a Believer honour's God in this world, and God will honour him out of this world; he glisters and shines here in his silks and embroideries of humility, love and righteousness; and when he is called up from this world, he goes not without his Retinue, his Graces, his works accompany or follow him to Glory one Paradise (as he said) then enters into another. From the words thus opened. I shall present you with this Proposition or Doctrine. Proposit. That when a Christian dies, his works die not with him. There is a sixfold attendance on a true Christian by his good works or graces when he leaves this world. 1. His works follow him in respect of that good report they leave behind him: It is a Judgement to have our names writ on earth, but it's an honour when our persons are in Heaven, to have a name of honour on Earth: A wicked man expires and goes out, but it is like a Tallow candle, leaving a stench behind him; a righteous man expires and goes out of this world, but like a Wax candle, leaving a sweet perfume behind him: His works in their report follow him. 1. In a blessed memory: Do well and hear ill is wrote on Heaven Gates, said the Martyr; yet oftentimes do well, and hear well after we have done well, is wrote on Heaven Gates: Of you it shall be said, this and that man was born in her: While the poor curse the memory of the wicked, they bless God in the remembrance of the righteous: Some men's names are rotten before their bodies, but other men's names are alive and fresh, when their Bodies are rotten, being laid in their Graves (tantorum nominibus semper assurgo, said the Moralist, of the mention of Cato and Lelius) The name of Lazarus is recorded, that is supposed to be his proper name; but the common name of Dives is only related, a certain rich man, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, there is all to signify who he was, God thought him not worthy of further mention; G d shows himself herein contrary to the world, who have no name for the godly, poor, but silly wretch; or a byname, as lame Giles. 2. God makes a memorial of the righteous, Prov. 10.7. A good name, as the Father observes, is the godly man's heir: The names of wicked men are either altogether omitted, as in that place, or Recorded with Infamy, as Jeroboam is mentioned in the Chronicles of Israel; Pilate in the Creed, Gardener in the Martyrology; but the names of the righteous are famous: David is dead, but his zeal for God lives; David, saith the Scripture, was a man after Gods own heart: Job is dead, but yet his patience for God lives; have ye not heard, or ye have heard of the patience of Job: Abel was murdered above 4000 years ago, yet his Faith is alive to this very day, he yet speaketh, his tongue is out of his head, and yet his faith is not tongue-tied? Oh, saith God, what a Believer was Abel! some render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, passively is yet spoken of, that is, he is of blessed memory, his name is honourable in the Church. 2. His works follow him in their report, by an happy example: A good man's person is gone, but his footsteps are left behind him; when he is dead, and gone to heaven, and beholdeth the face of God in glory; his example left behind him, is a Looking-glass for others to dress themselves by, a Copy for others to write after: This woman's charity, saith Christ, shall be made mention of where ever the Gospel shall be preached: The Father its true dies, but yet he lives in his child that wears his image, especially in a moral sense, when the child imitates the virtues of the father: When a friend bewailed to Epaminandas' want of issue, that noble Captain replied, That he should leave two fair daughters behind him, the Battles of Leuctra and Mautinea, in which his memory should survive: A good man never dies childless, his examples of Patience and integrity are his never dying offspring: In this sense Luther and Calvin, and the rest of those Champions that wrote for Christ, and died in the Lord, are yet alive in their words and works; And though their souls be in Heaven, yet are they instrumental for the salvation of souls on Earth: As long as their Works or Writings are extant in the World, they shall not have done preaching to, as long as their holiness towards, and courage for God are upon Record and published, they shall not have done converting of sinners to, or at least of confirming of Saints in Christ, efficacior est vox operis, quam opus voeis. Secondly, Their works follow the Saints, many of them formally and really: Indeed they take leave of Faith and hope, they are militant Graces, and only suitable to the state of the Church on Earth; but Love is a Triumphant Grace, and goes along with them to Glory: and now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these three; but the greatest of these is Charity, the greatest Extensively, Faith and Hope being more personal Graces, Love being communicative, rather here protensively, in respect of duration; to save a man, Faith is great; in a man saved, Love is the greatest: Faith, and Hope, and Repentance, go with Christians virtually; as he that hath the Spirits and Extracts of Herbs, is said to carry the Herbs with him, and a Merchant that turns his Lands into Pearls and Gold, is said to carry his Estate with him; so the fruit and substance of Faith lives, though justifying Faith, or Faith justifying dies: The Motto of Chawcer, Farewell Physic, may well be the Motto of a dying Christian, Farewell Repentance, farewel Hope: Repentance is a plank after Shipwreck, and where there is no sea, no water, there is no need of a plank: As the Sword-bearer to the Emperor Charles, being a Protestant, carried the Mace before his Master to the Church door, when he went to Mass, but his conscience would not suffer him to go in with him: So in a sense Faith guards us to Heaven Gates, and when it hath done its office, there it leaves us: Faith follows a Christian, as the shadow doth the Sun, from one point of the Compass or Dyal to another, until it comes to the Miridian, and there it leaves it; but love is a Royal Grace, an Heavenly Peer, with State and Majesty it enters into Glory, and dwells with the King of Glory himself to all Eternity: As Dr. Preston said, when a dying, I shall change my place, but not my company: his Graces followed him. Thirdly, Their Works follow them in respect of the comfort of them; as the wicked only leave their duties behind them, and carry their sins with them, so the godly leave their sins behind them, and carry their graces with them, they put off their garments when they go to bed. And here, 1. After death a child of God is comforted with the success of his works: How comfortable at the last day will it be, for a Master of a Family to present his servants at the Tribunal Bar before the Lord, and to say, Lord, Here am I, and my servants with me, that not only wear my Livery, but also obeyed thy commands: For the Ministers of the Gospel that have been faithful, to present their flocks before the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls, and to say, Here are the purchase of thy blood, the travail of our souls, the fruit of our labours and tears: As the Ancient sweetly brings in the Apostles, like so many File-leaders, severally bringing up their Converts to the Judgement-Seat; Peter attended with the converted Jews; John leading up the Asiatiques; Thomas the Indians, and Paul the Gentiles: Et nos hic Pastores vocati sumus, & ibi greges non ducemus? And it is the persuasion of many great Divines, That the spiritual Fathers in Christ, shall know their children in Christ at that day: Their success will advantage their comfort, and therefore it is part of our duty to labour for success; though it must be acknowledged, that God rewards us not according to the success of our labours properly, but according to our labours for success. Let none be discouraged that their faithful works have not their success with men; for as the good Physician always heals not, so the good Preacher always converts not: The success of our labours is his work, not ours, and God rewards us not according to his own work (simply and abstractly taken) by the leave of that yet true and famous affirmation, God crowns his own works in us) but according to our works: He shall give to every man according to his works: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; we had better have one work writ in Heaven, than a thousand on Earth; and though men may forget labours of love on earth, yet the comfort is, they shall be reminded & rewarded by Christ in heaven; those that convert souls, and run like stars on Earth, shall at last be Crowned, and shine like stars in Heaven, Dan. 12.3, 4. 2. After death, a child of God shall be comforted with the Testimony of his Conscience: And thus, 1. His Integrity shall follow or accompany him: Miserable is he whose conscience condemns him, though all the world acquit him; but thrice happy is he whose conscience acquits him, though all the world accuse him: A man may have hypocrisy in him, and yet be no Hypocrite; he may slumber and sleep with the foolish Virgins, yet be no foolish Virgin; while we are on this side our Father's house, we cannot but trip and stumble, though we keep the way; while we are on this side Paradise, we cannot behold a pomegranate that hath no rotten grain in it: This may support, that if we bring our Graces to the Touchstone, the Lord himself will never bring them to the Balance; the charge of Hypocrisy is familiar and easy, the proof is laborious and hard: We are not made Lord Judges of men's Consciences, and therefore, notwithstanding private suspicions, we must forbear, and refer the censure of the full and final estate of man to God: It's the work of God to discover Hypocrites, not of man; while a man goes about to discover an Hypocrite, let him beware, lest in seeking to find out one he discover two, the searched and the searcher: Quam immensa est laetitia de recordatione transacti operis? Possibly it may be said concerning many Christians, who never studied to be conformable to the Critical Religion of the World; as it was said of Father Paul the Venetian, because men knew not how to convince him, either in his Profession or Life, they had only this common plea against him, That he was an Hypocrite: But what a testimony will Samuel bring with him at that day, to say in the audience of Men and Angels, Whose Ox have I stolen? For blessed Paul to manifest at that day, This is the testimony of my conscience, that in godly simplicity I have behaved myself in the world. My Beloved, get a good conscience, for that is a thousand witnesses, and a thousand witnesses will not at that day be so good as a good conscience: How amiable will the face of true Grace be then? How abominable will the vizor and counterfeit be? 2. His Charity and Love shall witness for him: Many have no greater sensible evidence of their loving Christ, then by the love they bear to his servants that wear his Livery, to his Children that bear his Image: But then the scruples of the upright shall be dissolved, resolved, and they shall not need so to puzzle their brains to find the love of the Brethren in their hearts. How refreshing will it be then, for a Believer to have occasion to say by way of Praise and Testimony; the Lord gave me the loaf, and I grudged not to give others the crumbs: God made my cup full, and I made it to run over for the relief of others: It will, I am sure, it will be more comfortable for a man to say, I have been good, and I have done good in the World, then to say, I had (all) the goods of the World: Good works are a Treasure, and will follow you; good and cordial Prayers are a Treasure, and they will go before you; and Faith and Hope are a Treasure, and they will go with you. It is strange to consider, how many bad words men have for good works, as if to be charitable were to be Popishly affected; but if charity be Antichristianism, Christ is the Pope, and Rome is at Jerusalem, Rev. 14.13. Acts 7.59. Luke 23.43. Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations, Luke 16.9. Not by way of merit, but by way of concomitancy, every acting of every Grace will stand us in stead, a charitable act as well as a repenting act: Quicquid pauperibus spargimus, nobis colligimus: I shall not impose on your belief: But it is reported that Evagrius in Cedremus bequeathed 300 l. in his will to the poor, but took a Bond of Synesius the Bishop for the payment of it in the other life, & the next night after his departure, appeared to him in his shape, delivered in the Bond, cancelled and fully discharged, saying, Take your Bond again, I am satisfied. Thirdly, His perseverance will follow him: It were better for a man never to set his hand to the plough, then to look and to go backward; better never to have begun in profession, then to end in Apostasy. Perseverance is the Crown of Grace, because it is the Crowning Grace: Perseverance is the Crown of Grace, and Heaven is the Crown of Perseverance: Praise the Mariner when he is arrived at his Harbour; commend the Soldier's valour, when he hath got the day and won the field: Hold on, and hold out Faith and Prayer, said the Martyr, Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy Crown, saith the Lord, Revel. 3.11. How sweet will it be for a Believer to carry the testimony of his perseverance in his conscience to the last Assizes, to have ground to say, It's true Lord, I have had many infirmities, many failings, yet my heart was upright, my heart did not lay hypocrisy at my door; I confess, I often stumbled, I had almost fallen; many a time have I offended against thy glory before the World, but oftener have I grieved thy gracious spirit in private; yet through thy grace I have risen, I have fought the good fight, I have run my race; and though I have many ways forsaken thee, yet thou didst not forsake and take thy farewell of me, thou didst pardon my sins, and heal my soars: We cannot but be shot at by Satan while we are besieged, we get many a fall and bruise by the world & lust; scarce a Jacob that wrestleth with God, but goeth limping; yet where sin is a Tyrant, not a King; an enemy at our backs, not a friend in our bosoms; it will not be charged on us, so as to condemn, so as to damn us: What a comfortable sight is it to see a Christian to contend against flesh & blood in this world; to ruin with Christ, rather than to reign with Caesar? to march out of the Battle, though wounded and maimed, yet with his colours flying to the Grave? If they be blessed that die in, how blessed are they that moreover die for the Lord? Mori pro Domino, Martyrum est, in Domino, confessorum. Bern. Beatus est Petrus qui cruciatur, nec minus beatus est Johannes qui in Lecto moritur. Aret. in Loc. Fourthly, His works follow him in respect of Testimonies, ad extra, and so his works shall find a probation. 1. From the good Angels: As they are Gods Messengers to us, so they are our witnesses to God; the tears of repenting sinners, are the wine of Angels, they rejoice in, therefore they must needs observe the conversion of sinners: Many Actions done out of the view of men, are yet within the cognizance of Angels: The good Angels shall give in their testimony against the wicked, and for the righteous; such an one, Lord, was a Blasphemer, a Drunkard, we can witness to it, we have heard him swear, we have seen him drunk; but such and such were attenders upon Gospel Ordinances; were given to Prayer and Meditation, to Repentance and good works: and as far as we can judge, were not only Professors of sincerity, but sincere Professors; were not only called Saints, Saints by calling, but Saints indeed by Dedication and Infusion; not only called Christians, but Christians as they were called, Zech. 1.10. 2. His works shall find a probation from the very Devils: As at the great day, in some things the godly shall acquit the Devils (for the Devils are not always guilty; when we are filthy, we often paint the Devil's blacker than they are, to make ourselves whiter than we are) and give them their due; so in some things the Devils (as very Devils as now they are) shall acquit the godly. God, q. d. will then say to Satan, as one of old, Satan, hast thou considered my servants, Job, David, and Peter; and Satan that accused them, while living, shall then as it were justify them: Wisdom is too often condemned by her children here, but Wisdom shall be justified by her enemies hereafter. Providence will extort this confession from Devils; true Lord, they were great sinners, but we cannot deny the truth of their repentance, and we did often tempt them, when yet they were not overcome: Thus Religion shall be cleared, not only by Devilish men, but by Devils: The Devils will then testify that wherein God's servants failed, it was much, because of their snares; that such and such of God's children had lived more comfortably but that they tempted them to despair; had lived more righteously, but that they tempted them to scandal; had done more work for God in his vineyard, but that they disquieted and hindered them: Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you, said the evil Spirit in the Acts. Thirdly, He hath a testimony of his good works from good men: Religion is now made a party by too too many; and men became of an opinion not to serve God, but to get Votes for their reputation: O what a refuge is it for the Hypocrite to fly to the applause and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God's people! to cry up others for their Heavenly-mindedness, that the Heavenly-minded indeed might not cry out against them for worldly-mindedness; not but that the good opinion of good men is considerable, but in se and separated from goodness of practice in ourselves, it's but the varnish of Hypocrisy: As the evil Opinion of an evil man maketh not a good man evil, so the good Opinion of a good man maketh not an evil man good: yet as God is the witness of our heart, so good men are the witnesses of our lives: The Rabbis have a fine Proverb, That he that doth a good work, bonum opus, gets to himself against the last day Advocatum, an Advocate; and so many good works, so many Advocates (but Christ is our Advocate) but he that continues so many evil works as he doth, so many Devils, or so many Accusers he procures against himself in Judgement: Good men will then testify one for another; when Justice shall inquire what such and such were (not that God needs man's testimony, but to speak to conscience, and according to the substance of the process at that day) the righteous shall answer, Lord, since we are called to be witnesses, we must needs say, That while such were a blaspheming thy name, a scoffing at thy people; we knew them to be Blasphemers and Scoffers, these and these of thy people were a praying, a hearing of thy Oracles, a mourning for sin, they and we did comfortably and often serve the Lord together. Fourthly, They shall have a probation from evil men: Their accusation is not so considerable as their acquittance: Men, said he, speak evil of me, but they are evil men that do so; and an argument for us from an adversary, is not to be neglected: though wicked men curse the Saints while they live, yet they shall bless and justify them in the day of Visitation, as the Apostle speaks. 1. Either when pangs of conscience seize on them: Or, Secondly, When they come to die; as one said, O that I might be Croesus' living, and Socrates dying! Or as the Proverb is, Let me live in Italy, but let me die in Spain: So Balaam, though he lived the life of the wicked, yet he loved the death of the righteous; though men live Hypocrites, yet they would die sincere; though many live by a form of godliness, yet they would fain die by the power: Or, Thirdly, They shall respect and honour them at the Judgement-day: Oh, will Pharaoh say then, that I were Moses! Will Cain say, that I had been but suffering Abel? Who would be a Rakehell or a Ranter then? when many of those that have been Judges, shall be judged, and the judged (many of them I mean) shall be Judges; when Paul that once stood at the Bar, shall sit on the Bench; for the Apostle telleth us, That the Saints shall judge the world: That time is a coming (though now the world judgeth the Saints, and one Saint judgeth another) that is, shall be, q. d. Coassessors with Christ at the last day, consenting to, and applauding of his Judgement of the world; when the Judge shall say to the Cursers, Go ye cursed, the Saints shall say, Amen Lord; when Rabshekah shall be thrown down to Hell, and Hezekiah taken up to Heaven: Who would rise in that estate of wrath he was born, lived and died in? Those that now accuse the godly for dissemblers and Hypocrites, will then publicly confess their sincerity. Christians! Be not discouraged in your more strict profession of Christianity; it is no matter what now they say of you behind your backs, but what they shall be forced to speak of you to your faces at that day. Fifthly, Even the Spirit of God will bear a testimony to his works: What though all men and Angels should condemn us, now God himself will not condemn, but acquit us; as he hath a bottle for our tears, so he hath a file for our Prayers, and a Book for our Works: Wicked men look on the infirmities of God's people, their molehills, as mountains; their motes, as beams, as sins of the greatest magnitude, and on their own mountains and beams as molehills, and motes: Men are merciless in their censures, but God hath more equitable scales, and can give Grains of allowance to his Gold. Even as God seemed to stand Neuter for a time, while there was a dispute held between Job and his Friends concerning his integrity; at length God steps from behind the curtain, and pleads his cause: Who saith my servant Job is an Hypocrite? you charge desperately on my servant; but you have not spoke of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath done, Job 42.7. God's people oft in their temptations, speak that against themselves that God never spoke; we are but Hypocrites, we are cast out of God's presence, these miscarriages of ours have dissolved the Covenant between God and us, are inconsistent with integrity or true Grace; but God, Revel. 2.2. knows their works, their patience, their labours of love, their gold, notwithstanding some dross, their sincerity amidst many failings, and will make them known to themselves & all the World at the last day; the Lord will say concerning this and that man, I know them to be cleansed by the blood of my Son, however men have cast dust on them: Others have surveyed their lives, and seen some spots which they themselves have lamented, and I know them to be Holy, and to have feared my Name: Now if God shall justify, who shall condemn at that day? Fifthly and lastly, Their works shall follow them in respect of a guerdon and reward: In Scripture the word Work signifieth three things. 1. The very act of Labour, so Solomon tells us, that in the Grave there is no wisdom, no work, that is, no working for Heaven, Eccles. 9.10. 2. For the effect of labour; that which is wrought we call his work, as well as the act of his labour; thus the fire will try every man's work, 1 Cor. 3.13. 3. For the reward of a Christians Labour: Work is taken for wages; it is usual to put Prayer for the thing prayed for, or for the thing obtained by Prayer; so Hannah, 1 Sa. 1.27. The Lord hath given me my petition; that is, The child for which I did Petition. It is usual to put sin for the reward or punishment of sin, Gen. 4.13. My sin, that is, my punishment for sin, is greater than I can bear; so also its usual to put the work, as for the reward of the work, and that, 1. In malo; as Jer. 4.18. Thy way hath procured this unto thee; this is thy wickedness, that is, this is the reward of thy wickedness. 2. In bono, as in my Text, their works followed them; that is, the reward of their works; they had done their work, and now God rewards them through Grace: Their works die not with them, as Hortensius his labours did: A cup of cold water shall be produced, Matth. 25. They forget their good works; When saw we thee an hungry, or naked? But Christ remembers them, inasmuch as you did it to one of these little ones, you did it unto me; those that have done well, shall have a well done; those that have sown to the Spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life; Glory, and Honour, and Peace, shall be to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable; as in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive; as sure as we are gracious, so sure shall we be glorious; as sure as Heaven enters into a man in this world, so sure shall that man enter into Heaven in the world to come: To be brief in this, as certainly as now the Crown of immortality and Glory shines in the eyes of God's people, so certainly shall it one day sit gloriously on their heads: It's easier to tell what Heaven is not, than what it is; We may talk of the greatness of our future reward, but we shall never know the weight of that Crown, till we have it on our heads; the worth of that Livery, till we have it on our backs; the greatness of that Glory, till it rest in and shine into our hearts: The reward of good works shall be great. Q. But why doth the Gospel chief mention, or more apparently note the reward of works of mercy, pity and charity, at the last day? A. Upon four accounts. 1. Because good works are the fruits of Faith: There may be charity without Faith, but there can be no true Faith without Charity: Moses in the Ecclesiastic Story was wont to say, I like that Faith better that can be seen then that Faith which only can be heard: Ubi bona opera non apparent ad extra, ibi non est bonum opus ad intra. So where there is no Charity, ad extra, without, there is no true Faith, ad intra, within: So John Husse, Though Faith have a pre-eminence, because works grow out of it, and so Faith as the root is first; yet Works have the pre-eminence thus, both in that they include Faith (in Believers) in them, and that they diffuse and spread themselves more than Faith doth: And it is remarkable, That though Christ refer oft to believing in this life, because he would be sure to plant and fasten that safely, which is the root of all, Faith: yet in the next life his proceed are grounded on Works, and he will judge us according to our Fruits. 2. Because works are visible demonstrations of Faith: In Titles and Conveyances where Lands are made over to us, we have Seals to our Writings, and witnesses to our Seals; so here our persons are instrumentally justified by our Faith (as we ordinarily speak) but our Faith is justified by our Works. The evidence to God that our Works are good, scil. formally is our Faith; the evidence to men that our Faith is good, probably is our Works: Men can give testimony concerning our Charity; but Faith is a secret, and God only can witness to that: Now God, who is all Spirit, will not judge the World immediately, but by our Mediator, God-Man, that humane nature that hung on the Cross, shall q. d. sit on a Throne; the Judge then shall be visible, and the Persons to be Judged shall be visible, and the public process, shall in a great part be concerning things visible too: God will so act at that day; as that all men shall see the righteousness of his Process, he will judge, not according to his secret counsels, his cabinet decrees, but according to evidence, and his revealed Law. Now James saith, Show me thy faith without works, and I will show thee my faith by my works; this demonstration à posteriori, is manifest. Faith like the Queen of the South, comes not alone to Solomon, she brings her train after her: Faith is this Queen, let Repentance be her Usher to go before her; and good Works, as Patience, Charity, Meekness, the Court that follow her, so let her come to the King of Glory, in the Presence Chamber of Jesus Christ in heaven: As long as we feel thy pulse beating, we are sure thou livest; yet the beating of thy pulse is not the cause why thou livest, but a sign by the effects. As Christ said of himself, when the question was, whether he was the Messiah? View my works, said he, they are they that testify of me: So I may say of men, their conversations, their works testify what they are: Good works before men, are good witnesses of our faith before God. God will then examine men of those things that man can bear testimony to. 3. Because men accused, naturally and generally appeal to their good works, by whom or by what will the hypocrite be tried? By God's people? No; by the work of Regeneration? No; for that's a mystery unknown to them: but by my works will I be tried; why then to thy works thou shalt go; thou boastest of thy works, but where is their goodness! How can thy works be good, if thou thyself the worker art evil! The Lord likes Adverbs better than Adjectives; Benè better then Bonum. Do your works proceed from a good heart, and do they tend to a good end? Our works must not only materially be good (for there may be malum opus in bonâ materiâ;) but the aim and intention of our works must be good also, or else, notwithstanding our good works, we are evil workers before God. And further, I believe that the mere outside Christian will then be found to have been defective in good works; in some or other good work: Either he will be charged for injustice in getting his estate, with which he hath been charitable; and that's not properly charity for a man, as we say, to steal the whole loaf out of the cupboard of a poor man, and then to give him a crust at the door: Or as the Spanish Proverb is, to steal a Goose, and stick down a Feather. Or secondly, For partiality in doing good: We may observe, That all Causes are required to make an Action good, but one defective Circumstance will render an Action bad. Fourthly, Good works will then be called in for Evidence, because by them we are like God: What one Evangelist hath, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect; another renders it, Be you merciful as your Heavenly Father: Some things God teacheth us by precept, other things he teacheth us by Example; as to repent by Precept, to love by Example: Now we more imitate God in following his Precepts, then in obeying his Commands: Simply so considered, we are more like God in our Love, then in our Repentance; hence God in Scripture is called Love, but not Faith properly: A Believer that is a good man, a man full of compassion and bowels of mercy, is the most godly, the most Godlike man in the world. For the Application and Conclusion of this Doctrine, That when a Believer dies, his works die not with him. Use 1. Hence, is by way of Caution concerning good works: Good works, say the Papists on this Scripture, go before in respect of Merit, but follow after in respect of Reward; but the words speak of the Reward that follows, not of the Merit that goes before; a Reward we acknowledge, Merit we deny; we shall be rewarded according to our good Works, but not for our good Works: It is sufficient to merit, that merit sufficeth not. The Antinomians say, Good works are not necessary for Salvation; they might better say, They are not necessary as to Justification; that is, that they Justify not: He that beggeth Mercy, boasteth not of Merit: Good works do not go before, but follow us to Heaven: The blood of Christ, is the golden Key to open the door of Paradise. It is reported, that the Doctrine of Simon Magus, was, That a bare profession of Faith, without a reformation in the life, was sufficient for salvation. Austin justly conceives that one reason why James so prefers Works, Cave non tantum ab operibus malis sed etiam à bonis. as to say, That Abraham was justified by them, was, because that some Licentiats had so abused the Doctrine of Faith delivered before by Paul: Good works are such things, as no man can be saved for them, and yet no man can be saved without them: The truth is, we are not only not saved for our Works, that we are not so much as saved for our Faith. The greatest degree of Faith, is not worth the least or lowest degree of Glory: It was height of Pride, that made a Jesuit say, Coelum gratis non accipiam; the value of Faith grows, non ex persona credente, vel ex natura fidei, sed ex pacto contrahenti, not so much from our condition, as from God's Covenant; He that believes shall be saved: There is no inconsistency between these two Propositions, He that believes, and he that reputes shall be saved: For though we are justified by Faith only, yet not by Faith alone; that is, Works justify not with Faith, and Faith justifies not without Works: Good Works qualify the subject believing, but Faith is the proper instrument of receiving the Covenant of Grace: Faith is an evidence to us of our righteousness before God, and Works are an evidence of the truth of our Faith before men: Out of the point of Justification, Works cannot be sufficiciently justified or commended, but in the point of Justification Works are not to be admitted: How hard is it to join together, what God would not have separated? Faith and Works; so to work and repent, as if we were to be saved, q. d. without Faith; and so to believe, as if we were to be saved without Works: How difficult is it for a man, a moral man, to see the necessity of Faith? to cry out, What though I am righteous before men, if yet I should want the righteousness of Christ before God? My righteousness is but as rags, my duties but as dung, my tears need Christ's blood: Lord! without thy free Grace, and a Plaster of the merits of Christ, notwithstanding all my Prayers and Performances I am undone. Luther well observes, how much the believing and the begetting Abraham differs; the begetting Abraham was a worker, the believing Abraham was righteous, his Faith was on Christ the object of Faith; and we are blessed, not with the working, but with the believing Abraham. Use 2. Is for the information about the aim and end of men in their Works: It is curiously questioned, whether it be not a sordid way of obedience, for a man to eye his reward in his obedience; but it is more becoming a Philosopher then a Divine (I judge) to provoke his Auditors to virtue, without the least reflection of a future reward. If that be true which is affirmed by many, that Grace and Glory differ not specifically, but gradually; and that be true which is affirmed by all, That man's Happiness and God's Glory be indisputably conjoined in Heaven; then certainly we may have our eye to the Star, while we have our hand at the Helm; we may have one eye to our Reward, as well as the other to the Work: As it is no Prerogative act for God to damn the Hypocrite at last day, but an act of Justice, sin being the antecedent cause of wrath; so the salvation of the Upright, will not appear to be the product only of Gods Arbitrary Grace, but (according to his revealed truth) the manifestation of his remunerative righteousness; Grace in us being, though not the cause, yet the antecedent of Glory: Hence it is, that the Gospel deters us from sin, by arguments form out of Hell, as the unquenchable fire, and the terrors of the Lord; so it animates us to duty, by arguments made out of Heaven and Glory: How doth it embolden a Believer to sail through Storms and Tempests, when he thinks on his Harbour; to resist unto blood, and rather to die for, then deny Christ when he ponders on his Crown? Let us endure the cold frosts, let us be content, though we are buffeted for a while, cried the Martyrs of old, for Heaven will make amends for all: There may be amor mercedis, a love of the Reward (as well of the Rewarder) and yet no mercenary love, no amor mercenarius: When I will not love God without this world, when I love or respect God only for riches and honours, etc. this is a mercenary love; but not when I love God for the hoped perfection of my Graces, for the moral obolition of my sins, for the contemplation of his presence in light; for if the enjoyment of God be the essential Heaven, then to love the enjoyment of God, is to love Heaven; and I am no more mercenary for loving of God the more for Heaven, then for loving of the enjoyment of God: Some have applauded the strength of direct obedience, without eyeing the reward by an Emblem of a Lady, with a Waterpot in one hand, and a Firebrand in the other, saying, She would serve God, though with the water Hell-fire were quenched, and there were no torments to punish her for sin; though with the fire Paradise were consumed, and there were no everlasting happiness to reward her, Yet methinks, though good use may be made of such Hyperboles, they do not so fully speak to a Christian under trials; they teach us how to run, but they obscure the Garland; they teach us how to shoot, but in the mean time take away the mark: It's true, God is principally to be beloved for himself, & vix queritur Deus, propter deum; and so he may be, and yet be loved for Heaven. We may pray and wrestle against sin for the love of our King, and yet have the hope of a Kingdom to be enjoyed after the battle: The Doctrine of the Resurrection, is the foundation of Religion; and he that considers not of the Resurrection of the flesh, will hardly be drawn to mortify the flesh; I know no such suggestion in the Bible: Sinners! Would you deny the lusts of the flesh, and the pomp and vanity of the World, if there were no Resurrection, no Salvation? And it's a dangerous temptation to a perplexed conscience, to have his sincerity tried by this touchstone; if you can't serve God without a reward in Heaven, you are an Hypocrite. Use 3. Is for terror unto two sorts of Workers. 1. Evil workers. 2. Idle workers. 1. To Evil workers: Shall the works of God's Children follow them, then by just consequence your evil works, your lying, your scoffing at Religion shall follow you: As righteousness shall follow the righteous, so wickedness shall follow the wicked: Those that will not now find out their sins, Morientes divitias hic dimittunt, & peccata sua secum portant. their sins shall one day find out them, and judgement shall find out their sins: Even as Destruction said to Pride, they being both invited to a Feast, contending who should go before, and who should follow; said Pride, Go you before; no, replied Destruction, I prae, sequar; Go you before, and I will follow after: So here impenitency goes before to Hell, and the impenitent sinner follows after; their sins reached to Heaven, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, accumulata pervenerunt; as one Mountain laid on the top of another, the same word as in my Text, so one sin follows another, until the sinner and his sins meet together in Hell: The wicked shall not carry their goods, but their evils with them: They shall leave their Estates, their Gold behind them, but they shall carry their oppression, their guilt with them; they shall lie down in their sins, and their sins shall rise with them; their sins shall go into Hell with them, and there stare them in the face; here a Regiment of Oaths on the one hand, there a Regiment of Lies on the other hand: Happy would the wicked be, that they could go naked out of this World, as free from their sins, as of their riches If men shall be condemned for idle words, much more for ill works: How many will then wish their Blasphemies against the Mediator unprinted, and their slanderous Libels against men unpublished to the World? when God himself shall read a black Bill or Indictment against them, out of every line they wrote, and make every Volumn a Faggot to burn and torment them withal; and the more Proselytes men have gained to their damnable Errors, the more additions of Wrath they shall have to all Eternity: As Christ said, Can men gather Grapes of Thorns, or Figs of Thistles; So comparing Works to Trees, Rewards to Fruits; Consider, Will thy gall and wormwood ever make pleasant Drink? These wild and sour Grapes, ever yield sweet Wine: This ignorance, this impenitency, these vulgar Oaths, and wanton dalliances, are these the seedplot of Heaven, the foundation upon which I build my salvation? No, no, my soul, as thou brewest so thou must drink; as thou sowest, so thou must reap: Alas, how unfruitful have I been in good works? how fruitful in evil? whilst others have been a praying, wretched I have been a cursing; while others have spent their time in gathering of Manna to feed their souls, I have been gathering of sticks to burn my soul withal: I had a season to go into God's Vineyard, the Spirit called, Conscience called, Providence called, but I was idle, but I was evil: How can I, that have so long stood idle (and O that I had only been idle and done nothing!) look for the penny? or that have refused to mortify a last look for a Crown? or for the Harvest of Glory, that have neglected my seed time? Can I think to find the living among the dead? the Tree of Life out of Paradise? Heaven in Hell? O that either my works had been according to my profession, or my profession according to my works! Aut professio secundum opera, aut opera secundum professionem: When the Saints die, they rest from their labours, and their works follow them (through Freegrace in glorious rewards.) When the wicked dye, they rest from their labours too, but their works follow them (through Divine Justice) into everlasting punishment. Thus many may everlastingly rest from their troubles in this world, and when they have done so, go into a world of everlasting troubles; Opera sequuntur bonos, persequuntur malos: Omnia mala, mali secum portant. Secondly, As it reproves evil, so also Idle workers. Ah Christians, How ready are we to neglect our Watch! to give over our Work! to make the affairs of this world our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, our main work, and the affairs of Heaven our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, things by the by. Volumus assequi Christum, sed non sequi, how do we set our affections on things Temporal, while we neglect the things that are Eternal! Are we by nature Children of wrath? have we seasons offered us for reconciliation? and shall we neglect our Souls? Pretend the world against God; and desperately venture our Salvation upon an Arbritary God, upon an, it may be we may be saved. Do we know already, that they that die in sins, shall forever live in everlasting burn, and shall we dare live in sin, and go out of the world in that same state of enmity against God, with which we came into this world? Is heaven a Kingdom, and have we no violence to offer for it? Will this be a sufficient Apology for any man to say at last day," Lord, I never opposed thy ways when I did not profess them; I did not despise the offers of grace, though I did neglect them? Have you any greater work to do in the world, then to look after the glorifying of God, and the salvation of your souls? I must acknowledge, that in the first work of Grace, we are rather Passive than Active, (for ut Deus operatur in nobis, ut accedamus ita operatur ne decedamus) and that without the influence of Omnipotency we can do nothing but undo ourselves; and that when we have done all we can, we must say (not in a Jesuitical Compliment, but really) we are unprofitable servants, yet our impotency contracted and nourished by ourselves, excuseth not, but aggravates our weakness; though we can't create the breath of the Spirit, yet cannot we hang out our sails to entertain it; though we cannot make the Pool of Bethesdah, the ordinances of God effectual for our cure, yet cannot we come and lay ourselves at the Pool to wait the motion of the Angel. Is it not our duty to pray for, as well as to pray in the Spirit? Because God worketh in us both to will and to do, shall we therefore sit still, and not work out our salvation with fear and trembling? might not we have done more for our souls then we have done? Doth God compel us to run to a Tavern, when we should go to Church? Is it no burden to be a Packhorse and Drudge to the Devil, and yet it is a burden to be a servant, a freeman, a Son of God? Will it not be a greater trouble to suffer hereafter the will of God, Go ye cursed, then now it is to do his will, Believe and repent? Non posse pretendiditur, cum nolle est in causa? My Beloved, No work, no reward, no holiness, no Heaven, roundly and plainly (as 'twas said in another case) either turn or burn; Do and live is Evangelical Language, as well as Legal: Do on Earth, or suffer in Hell: Find out a new Heaven if you can, for you shall never find out a new way to the old; if ever you go before to Heaven, your works must follow you: Si non vertamus verba in opera, Deus vertet verba in verbera, If we turn not our words into works, God will turn our words into blows. It was the trouble of a Martyr when he was led to the stake, that he was now going to that place where he should receive wages but do no work. Use 4. Is for comfort to the godly and holy: Your works of goodness shall follow you, not your sins: Pharaoh followed Israel to the Red-sea, and there he left them; the Pilot follows the Merchantman to the Harbours mouth, and there leaves him: That busy Devil, that now prosecutes you from one Ordinance to another with his temptations; that envious World, that now persecutes you from one place to another, with reproaches and revile, shall then prosecute and persecute you no more; farewell troubles and trials, farewell hardness of heart, and unprofitableness under the means of Grace, and that for ever. Remember Christians, that Death that is a Trap door to let some down into hell, shall be a Portal or Gate to let you into heaven. That that stroke of the King of terrors, that shall separate your souls from your bodies, shall separate sin likewise from you souls: Your sorrows now are mixed with your joys, your darkness with your light, you have indeed some rest while you labour, how full then will your rest be, when you shall rest from your labours, and work no more? this is your day of working, hereafter is your day of rewarding; this is your seedtime, hereafter is your harvest; Si Deus tam bonus sequentibus, quam bonus fuerit consequentibus? though here you sigh and mourn, yet hereafter you shall sing and rejoice; though here you are as Pearls hid in, and besmeared with dirt, yet hereafter you shall shine as the Sun: Then you shall see the fruit of the travels of your souls, than you shall not repent of your mortification and repentance; Then finally will it appear that that man is happier that hath had Saint Paul's Coat, with his heavenly graces, than the Purple Robes of Princes with all their Kingdoms. Fifthly, By way of Advice to all, That they may so carry themselves while they live, that their works may gloriously follow them when they die. To which purpose, First, Be importunate at the Throne of Grace, that ye may be made the workmanship of God, which you must be, before you can do the work of God. Fiamus opus Dei, ut facimus opus Dei; your natures must be renewed before you can do new actions: A bad man can never Theologically do good works, morally he may, but he that doth a moral work only, shall have a moral reward only; as the wheel turns round, not to the end it may be made round: But on the contrary, as the stems must first be grafted on the stock, before they can bring forth fruit, so we must be Branches in Christ, united to, and made one with him, before we can be fruitful in good works. The Church in the Canticles is described no where by the beauty of her hands or fingers, though oft by the beauty of other parts of her body, because a Christian should abound in good works, and yet in silence without boasting. Or Secondly, because it is Christ alone, that works all our works in us and Grace, is not our Creature, but the manufacture of Christ: Bona opera non praecedunt Justificandum, sed sequntur Justificatum. Secondly, If you would have your good works to follow you, send them before you: Now Repent, now Believe, and hereafter you shall have the reward of your Repentance, and of your Faith; and as for Charity, part with that you cannot keep, that you may obtain that you cannot lose: When the world shall leave you, your good works shall follow you, your gracious actions; your good works are an inexhaustible fountain, that shall never be dried up, a durable spring that shall never fail; they are acts of time, short in performance, yet eternal in their recompense: Non transeunt opera nostra, sicut transire videntur, sed velut aeternitatis semina jaciuntur: Though they are sown in this world, they shall spring in the next; that which you lay out for Christ on earth, you lay up for yourselves in Heaven; the hand of the poor is the Treasury, the Gazophylacium of Christ; and by charity, in a Gospel sense, you make your Maker your Debtor; and surely if thou be the Creditor of the Almighty, it will not be long ere he come out of thy Books: How foolish are they that fear to lose their wealth by giving it, and fear not to lose themselves by keeping it? He that lays up his Gold may be a good Jailor, but he that lays it out is a good steward. Merchant's traffic thither with a commodity where 'tis precious, in regard of scarcity: We do not buy Wines in England to carry them to France; Spices in France to carry them to the Indies: so for labour and work, repentance and mortification, there is none of them in Heaven, there is Peace and Glory, and the favour of God indeed: Their works, in my Text, go with them, they dare not go without their fraught: A Merchant without his Commodity, hath but a sorry welcome: God will ask men that arrive at Heaven Gates, ubi opera? Rev. 22.12. His reward shall be according to our works: Thou hast riches here, and here be objects that need thy riches, the poor; in Heaven there are riches enough, but no poor; therefore by faith in Christ, make over to them thy moneys in this world, that by Bill of Exchange thou mayest receive it in the world to come; that only you carry with you, which you send before you: Do good while it is in your power, relieve the oppressed, succour the fatherless, while your Estates are your own, when you are dead, your riches belong to others; one light carried before a man, is more serviceable than twenty carried after him: In your compassion to the distressed, or for pious uses, let your hands be your Executors, and your eyes your Overseers; and that I may not be mistaken, let your Charity have these two Qualifications. 1. Let your works be done in Faith; as without works we cannot profit men, so without Faith we cannot please God; we must be married to Christ, or our children are not Legitimate, our works are not right: All our surviving out of the Ark, will not save us from the deluge of God's wrath: As Isaac said to Abraham, Father, here is the Altar and the wood, but where is the sacrifice? so at last day, when you shall knock at God's door, and seek to enter, and hold up your Lamps and cry, Lord! we are Virgins, we are Christians, we were hospitable and charitable according to thy command, let our neighbours be witnesses of our good works; but, will the Lord reply, True, here are your duties and your works, but where is my grace of Faith? Are these a satisfaction to my Justice? where is my Benjamin, the righteousness of my Son to plead for you? My Beloved, There seems to be less glory in Faith, then in any other Grace, it seemed but a sorry Grace, a Grace of no great virtue; Holiness is acceptable, because it honours God; Charity is noble, because it profits men; Thankfulness is melodious, because its the tune of Angels: Other works seem to make God a Debtor, to give as it were something to God; but ad quid fides? What is Faith good for? Yes, it is good for every good purpose, it's the root of all the Graces, it's the richest Grace, because its the enriching Grace; if Faith go before, Works will follow: Vbi Christus non est boni operis fundamentum, ibi nullum est bonum aedificium. 2. As works of Charity must be qualified with Faith, (or else our haec ego feci, haec ego feci, this and that have I done, are but faeces dregs, as Luther saith aptly) so they must be qualified with sincerity; while the penny is in the hand, let God's glory be in the heart: Your lights must shine, so that men seeing your good works, may glorify God; but not that men should see your works, and glorify you, and cry you up and down, There goes a charitable man, there goes a great worker: Men judge of the heart by the work, but God judgeth of the work by the heart: At the Judgement Bar it will be no excuse before God, if the matter of the work be ill to plead the goodness of the heart; to say, Though I was a common Blasphemer of thy name, a common neglecter of holy duties, yet I had an honest heart; so when the heart is naught, there is no pleading before God the goodness of the work; you fasted, and professed, and were charitable; Will the Lord say (as he did to the Jews) but was it for my Glory, for the exaltation of my name? out of the sense of my love? cain's works had been good, if cain's heart had not been evil: How sad will it be for some, to behold at the last day the mites of others to be received, and their own talents rejected; the good works of many to leave them, and their evil works only to follow them? Christus opera nostra, non tam actibus, quam finibus pensat. 3. Work while you have time to work; cast up your accounts, before you come to give up your accounts, or your accounts will cast up you: How vainly do many talk of working for Heaven, when they are going from the place of working, to the place of rewarding, of doing the greatest work, to repent, to believe, when they have least strength to do them, of turning their souls to God, when they can hardly turn their bodies on their beds? Believe it, believe it Christians! its too much for one man, and that at one time, to look after a sick soul, and a sick body together; if ever you would have your works to follow you when dead, follow you your works while you live, be earnest in self-examination, industrious in making your Calling and Election sure; like wise Virgins, Get not only lamps into your hands, but oil also into your lamps: The Grave is a place for resting from out works, not of working for rest: The Judgement Bar is a place for the distribution of Justice, not for the dispensation of Mercy; now or never, now if ever, work out your salvation, get the one thing necessary: Surgunt impii non ad judicium, sed ad condemnationem: The wise man tells us, There is no work to be done in the Grave, that's not a shop to work in, but a Grave to rest in; that's not a time for the kill of the worm of guilt in our souls, when the worms are gnawing and feeding on our bodies: God will not send Prophets to the grave, nor set up a Pulpit in Hell for the Preaching of salvation to the dead or damned. Lastly I might add, Take examples from God's Oracles, and from Providence, follow them that have so followed Christ; as ever you would have your persons follow Gods servants to glory, let your faith & love follow their examples that are left behind on earth. FINIS. Good Reader, IN regard of the known exemplariness of the conversation of this virtuous Lady deceased, I am persuaded (from arguments brought as to the common good) that this her following Character be annexed to my Sermon. It is reported of a great man, that he had good Intellectuals, but bad Morals: This honourable Lady had a good head, and also the addition of a good heart, not to mention her acquaintance with several Languages; she was best versed in the Language of Canaan; she was able solidly to maintain the controversies of the Church of God against Papists, Socinians, etc. It was her Honour, while other Ladies spent their time in reading Romances, and painting their faces, that she spent her time in reading the Oracles of God, and adorning her soul: Her private family duties, justled not out her public attendance on God's Ordinances, nor on the contrary; some few have hearts but want time; most have time, but want hearts; but as God gave her time, so he also gave her a heart to serve him: She never thought the Sabbath to be over, till the duties of the Sabbath both public and private were over: She was able to comport herself with the highest, yet she usually condescended, both in discourse and behaviour, to the lowest and meanest of God's children: She brought forth much fruit, and made but a little noise: She had much glory by her Face (but as Reverend Hall says of Moses) in her proportion, she had more glory by her vail. I never heard she was reconciled to any, for indeed, I never heard she had an enemy: The Ministry have lost a judicious Favourer; the Poor a Physician; her endeared Husband, the best Companion in this troublesome world. And that which is the Crown of all, she acknowledged the imperfection of her own Duties, and the necessity of Christ's righteousness. To conclude, she was of the number of those few that lived and died in honour; she hath done her work, and is gone to sleep. FINIS.