Thomas Manton’s Farewell Sermon. 1662.

Thomas Manton’s Farewell Sermon. He preached the following words on the 17th of August, 1662. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ~ Hebrews 12:1 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? ~ Isaiah 60:8 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. ~ Matthew 10:37-38 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. ~ Luke 9:59-62, Romans 13:11-14 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ~ 2 Timothy 2:4, Psalm 18:23, Philippians 2:16, 2 Timothy 4:7 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ~ Hebrews 6:13-15 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. ~ James 1:3, James 5:7-11 First, here are “witnesses.” By that term we are to understand those worthy saints mentioned and reckoned up in the former chapter, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, &c. All the saints of God that have had experience of the goodness of his providence to them, and the fulfilling of his promises... 1. They witnessed by their faith, John iii. 33. “He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true.” A man that faith soundly digested the promises, that expresses his faith by cheerfulness and patience under all difficulties, troubles, delays, and those sundry trials that he meets with, he gives it under hand and seal, proclaims it to the world that he hath to do with the true God. And 2. They witnessed in the fruits of their faith, as they give us an instance of God’s fidelity towards them that faithfully adhere to, and firmly believe in his promises; so it is said, Heb. vi. 12. “Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Let faith but set patience a work, do but hold out a little while with God, and you may learn by the example of all those holy men we shall inherit the promises, they shall be made good to a tittle, and not one thing fail of all that the Lord hath spoken, as those holy men were exercised and tossed to and fro, but it succeeded well with them at the last. O then let us hearken to the deposition of these worthy witnesses that are recorded in the scripture, and with such an invincible resolution as theirs was, let us hold out our course towards true happiness. If we do not, they that are now propounded as witnesses to us, will at the day of judgment be produced as witnesses against us. https://takeupcross.com takeupcross