340 vls. Tobe humble and thankful. Life twofold. t. Natural. t. Spiritual. r. To this life. Job. 17. S. z. lit death. After the Itcfurrc tiou. A thing eter- nal three wayes. $int Stipénd, and the painted face, in the beginning, but if a man caft his eyeupon theextream parts, itwould then affright, and deter him, for thewages, the end of it is death. What a world ofpeoplerun blindly,anddefperately on, they turn to theraceoffin, at the horfe to the battei without fear, as if thePfälmifts Tremble, andfn not, were ra- ther, ßn and tremble nor. Whereas we have great caufe every one , to tremble at the least motion of fin in out {elves, to which fodreadful, and wouul wages is due. Laftly, for this point, fo manyof usas have repented, And have already left the fervice of fin , we mull hence learn , as to be humbled in our felves, conudering what danger and mifery we have efcaped ; fo to he more thankful to Chrift, that bath freed us from fo wretchedwages due to our fins, and that by taking the whole punithment upon himlelf Por we muftknow (beloved) that the beftofus, byna- ture are children-of wrath, ae well ae others : the ftipend that we have earned it eternal death, and furely it hath been payed tous, nothing could have kept it from us, but only the fatisfaaionof!Drift, coming betweenGods jufticeand us. Think we then ifwe can, what mifery it is that we have efcaped (as manyofus, I mean as be in the Bate ofgrace ) we have efcaped death, the hurt oftemporal death, we have efcaped eternal death. What is that ? a feparation from the bleffed prefencee and gloryof God : deftru&ion of body and foul for ever , unutterable torments; company with the devil and his angels,and the rout of reprobates : darknefs;blacker; and thicker than that of Egypt, Weeping and wallingr andgnafhingofteeth in the infernal lake ; that worm that never dies, and the are that n:vergoeth out. This is the wages ofall fn : and thatit is not rendred to all fin, and to all tanners, the caufe is only this, that the payment bath been already exa&ed of Chrift in the behalfof all true believers ; therefore in theirownperfons they are difcharged : how infinite.; lyare we bound inthankfulnefsto him ? and how careful Ihould we be to walk wor- thy of it ? refolving never to return to the ferviceof fin again, but to make it our wholeftudy, that wemay pleafeand honour fuch a Redeemer, that bath redeeme . us from fuch mifery as this ; that we may pleofe him: for we had deferved eternal death, as well as others, and hebath not only freedus from that, that we Fad moft worthily deferved, but molt freelyan beftowed that.uponus, that wecouldnever deferve ; for fo it follows in the next point. ThegiftofGod is eternal life through Jeffs Chrift our Lord. That isthe fecond thing to beconfidered,the reward of the fervice ofGod. You have heard ofthe reward,ehewagesofin. Now the reward of the ferviceof God is eternal life, it is called life. There is a twofold life belongs tomen. Theone is natural, and is common to all, good and bad in this world. The other fpiritual, proper to the faithful , begun by the union of Gods and the foul, and maintained by the bond of the .ljiirir: and this life bath three de- grees. The ñrft is in this life unto death ; and it begins when we begin to believe and repent,and come to a favingknowledgeofGod,andofhis SonJefus Chrift : asit is {aid, This is eternallife to know thee to be the veryGod, and whom thouhafflint Jeffs Chriff, Joh. ay. 3. The fecond degree is fromour death toour refurrc&ion : for in that time our fouls being freed from our bodies, are withal free from all fin , original , and aflual. Thirdly, after the Refurre£tion, when body and foul !hall be reunited,we (hall have immediate communionand fellow fhip withGod, and fo enjoy a more perfeft atad blefied life than ever we- could here. And this fpiritual life, with all the three degrees ofit, is the life herefpoken of, efpecially the laft degree, 'theperfeaionof it in heaven. It is calledeternal life,becaufe it 1hall never end ; For a thing isPaid to be eternal three wayes. Firft,whichbath neither beginning,nor end,fo Godalone is tternal,andnone but he. Secondly,whichhath no beginning,and yet (hall have an end : fo Gods decree is eternal,
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