and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever." But not having been accustomed, as yet, to the hymns of the Church Triumphant, as we hope ere long to be, I fear we may find it something difficult to tune our hearts aright unto them and therefore let us take that which the Church Militant here on earth hath always used, and which we ourselves do constantly use in the Sacrament of our Lord's Supper, ordained on purpose to put us in mind of the great atonement which He, the Lamb of God, hath made for us; and let us, with one heart and voice, join together in that, and say, 66 Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for thy great glory, O Lord God! Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty! "O Lord! the only-begotten Son Jesu Christ; O Lord God! Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayers. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God, have mercy upon us. "For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord; Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen." SERMON XVI. SALVATION THROUGH FEAR AND TREMBLING. SERM. PHIL. ii. 12. Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling. SALVATION is a word that is often in our mouths, and sometimes, I hope, we have it in our hearts too. Be sure we all desire to be saved; and blessed be God for it, we may all be so, if it be not our own faults: for we have an Almighty Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, Heb. 7. 25. who is "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." And that He is as willing as He is able to 1 Tim. 1.15. Save us, we cannot doubt, seeing He" came into the world" on purpose to save sinners," such sinners as we all are; and therefore may be confident that He will save us, if we do but apply ourselves to Him for it, and do what He requires on our part in order to it. What that is, I shall endeavour, by His assistance, to shew from the words I have now read. The Apostle having been at Philippi, a city in Macedonia, and converted many of the citizens to the Christian Faith, he sends this Epistle to confirm them in it, and to direct them how to frame their lives, and carry themselves in all conditions according to it; that so they might receive the end of their faith, even the Salvation of their souls. Among other things he here puts them in mind of the great readiness they had shewn, in obeying and observing what he taught concerning the things that belonged to their Salvation, while he was present with them, and adviseth them not only to do the same, but much more, now that he was absent from them, and so could not be ready, upon all occasions, to admonish and direct them what to do. Now he would have them look to themselves, and use their utmost care and diligence in working out their own Salvation, by doing every thing that is requisite or necessary in order to it: "Wherefore, my beloved," saith he, "as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling." For the right understanding of which words, we must first consider what is here meant by "Salvation;" and then, what by "working it out with fear and trembling." Salvation is a word that is often used in Scripture for preservation, or deliverance from any sort of trouble or distress, in mind, body, or estate; but here, and in many other places, it signifies particularly that whereby we are saved from the wrath of God and eternal damnation, so as to be advanced to everlasting life and happiness; which is therefore called "the Salvation of our souls," and the "Sal- 1 Pet. 1. 9. vation which is in Christ Jesus, with Eternal Glory," who is said to be the "Author of Eternal Salvation." "Neither is Heb. 5. 9. there Salvation in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." But to make this as plain and practical as I can, that ye may all understand the nature of this Salvation, so as to be enflamed with desires of it, and steadfast resolutions to work it out, I shall induce it from its original, and lay it all open before you in these propositions. 1. As all the Angels, so all men were at first designed to live and abide for ever; and accordingly they all do So. When a man is once formed, and so begins to be, or exist, he is never after annihilated, or ceaseth to be, but always continues in his being or existence: so that Adam himself, and all that ever proceeded from him, in all places and ages, from the beginning of the world unto this day, they still all live, and move, and have their being somewhere, as really as we now live upon the earth: though their souls are separated from their bodies, they are not separated from their being, but still exist, and act as rea 2 Tim. 2. 10. Acts 4. 12. XVI. SERM. sonable souls, and will continue to do so in their separate state, until the Last Day; when their bodies being united again to them, they shall live together unto all Eternity. 2. As all men live for ever, so all live more or less in this world; some live a longer, some a shorter time, but all live some time here; some, perhaps, may live but a few minutes, or an imperceptible time, but some they must live for no man can go into the other world, without taking this in his way; his soul must first live in a body upon earth, before it can be translated into another state; others live here for many years, as blessed be God, many of us have already done; some heretofore, lived two hundred or three hundred, some near a thousand years; now, it is rare for any to live an hundred; neither doth any man know how much longer he shall live, than he hath lived already. 3. But this we all know, that how long soever any man lives in this world, he must at last go into the other; this being designed only for our temporal, the other for our eternal state, which we enter upon immediately upon our leaving this : the soul being no sooner separated from the body, and so out of this world, but it is at the same moment in the other. So that death is only our departure or translation out of one state into another; out of this into the other world. 4. According as men live here, well or ill, so hereafter they must live in pleasure or torment; for every one shall 2 Cor. 5.10. receive "the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." And accordingly, [Tit. 2. 12.] they who "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 2 Thes. 1.8, world," shall live happily in the other: but they who "know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." And Matt.25.46. so "these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." 9. 5. The place where all impenitent and unbelieving sinners Matt.22.13. must live for ever, is called “Hell,” a “dark” and “gloomy place," "outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," where they live in the extremity of pain and worm dieth Mark 9. 44. torment, both in mind and body; where their “ not, and the fire is not quenched," where their consciences are continually gnawed and fretted with the remembrance of their former sins, and the wrath of Almighty God is always burning in their breasts, never to be quenched or abated; where they lie scorching in that "everlasting fire Matt.25.41. that is prepared for the Devil and his angels," and so have those fiends and furies all about their ears; where they never have any quiet in their minds, nor ease in their bodies, nor so much as one drop of water to cool their" inflamed [Luke 16. tongues;" where they are always restless and uneasy, confounded, "afflicted, tormented" with a quick sense of God's wrath and fiery indignation against them, for not obeying the Laws, nor believing the Gospel which He had revealed to them. This is the portion of the wicked, the bitter cup which they must drink in the other world: and that which is worst of all, they can never drink it all off; for as fast as they drink, fresh will still be poured in, and so their unspeakable misery and torment will be continued for ever. 66 24.] 6. But they who repent and believe the Gospel in this world, at their departure out of it go to a place of a quite different nature, called “Heaven," a place as full of pleasure and satisfaction, as the other is of astonishment and confusion for here the "spirits of just men made perfect," live [Heb. 12. 23.1 in perfect rest, and ease, and love, and peace together, fearing nothing, lacking nothing, desiring nothing, as having all things they can desire; neither can they envy the Holy Angels themselves, being made equal to them in all respects and fellow-communers with them in all their joys and honours. Here the " righteous shine as the sun in the Matt.13.43. Kingdom of their Father," having the light of His countenance shining continually upon them; which so refresheth, delighteth, and transports their blessed spirits, that they are always brisk and lively, always pleasant and cheerful, always singing and praising, and adoring the Eternal God, and the "Lamb that sitteth upon the Throne." "The Lamb that sit- [Rev.5.13.] teth upon the Throne;" it was He that brought them thither, and now they live with Him there, and "behold the glory John 17. 24. which the Father hath given Him." O blessed sight! methinks the very thoughts of it should make us all long to be there, that we may see our dear Lord and Saviour |