[YOUR SHALL REAP GLORY, HONOUR, IMMORTALITY, AND ETERNAL LIFE: A FUNERAL SERMON FOR REBECCA TRAVERS]

A Sermon Delivered by WILLIAM PENN, June 19th, 1688.
Sermons by the People Called Quakers. A New Edition. London: Mary Hinde, 1775.

This is the Quaker Homiletics Online Anthology, Part One: The Seventeenth Century.

Times and seasons pass away, but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever; and it is that which hath been the root of life to the heritage of God in all ages and generations, that from whence their joy and hope always sprung, that in which their faith was finished; it was the Alpha, and it was their Omega. In this the righteous begun and set forth, and by this they were preserved in their heavenly race, till they came to their great end, the prize of the high calling, the haven of everlasting rest, after all the storms and tempests of time; it was this they had their eye to in the beginning, and it was their joy that opened in the eternal word, by which they were quickened and revived, and that caused them to endure to the end without fainting, and you shall likewise by patient continuance in well doing, in due time reap if you faint not. It was the word of God to the children of God of old, and it is his word in this day to us, you shall reap if you faint not. Blessed are you that are called into the vineyard, you shall reap an everlasting harvest, if you faint not now, you shall reap then; what shall you reap? Vanity and vexation of sprit, and disappointment? No, you shall reap glory, honour, Immortality, and eternal life.

So Friends, though every day we have renewed occasions of remembering our latter end, yet there is that which never shall have an end hath dawned unto us, which hath been presented to our view in this glorious day of our visitation; if we life up our eyes to it, and have regard to it, in our rising up and lying down, in our going out and coming in, and in all we put our hands unto; and if we place our interests and portions therein, then our minds will be established, and we shall not be ashamed now, nor blush before the Lord hereafter: if our hearts condemn us not, we shall have boldness before God. So shall all travelers, that have regard to the Word of Truth, while they are in their heavenly pilgrimage; they set their Faces Sion-ward, and go on not fainting, not doubting, not desponding; they have eye to the Lord Jesus Christ, and have their hear kept by that Word that abides for ever; their belief and hope is beyond time, fixed upon that which God hath owned to be his Word before the world was, and shall be when time and this world shall be no more; the outward garment which shall be worn while it lasts shall then be put off: blessed are they that know the white linen, that which is whole and all of a piece, that God giveth to his children that love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity, who is the Resurrection and the Life; he that comes to know and experience this, the second death shall have no power over him.

Now this Change is not only in the outward man, but in the inner man, there is a putting off that Which is fading, mortal, and perishing, and a being, clothed upon with immortality and glory; blessed are they which come to receive that Word of God, which hath been the Life of God in our Souls. This is a Day of Life to us; blessed are they that shall be placed in that eternal kingdom and region, where all time shall be swallowed up, and all tears wiped from their eyes, and sighing and sorrow shall be no more. O Friends! lift up your heads for the day of our redemption draws nigh; that you may not be shaken, with every wind of doctrine, know that the Foundation of God standeth sure; that is his Word that was the beginning with God, that Word that was God, in this eternal Word which is God, know your dwelling and habitation, and wait upon God in it; it was David's Buckler, his shield and strong tower, it was his rock: God set his feet upon a rock, that is higher than man's Power, and all man's wisdom and strength; in this the righteous begin, in this they travel on; blessed are they that walk by faith, that live to the Lord, and die in the Lord, and shall be forever with the Lord; they are blessed that wait upon the Lord for a sense of this, they are above all the changes of time and mortality.

It is this that was a reviving cordial to our deceased friend, who received the Truth in early days, the days of the dawning of God's power in this land, and in this city, and the remembrance of it was sweet to her soul: let us remember the love of God, and the power and glory of the name of the everlasting God that shined then, that we may be encouraged to keep together as a peculiar people, to the praise of him that hath called us out darkness into his marvelous Light; that God over all may be glorified for ever, that we may live to the honour of his blessed Name; that Christ's Kingdom may be set up among us, and that God's great Name, and power, and majesty may be exalted, and all flesh abased before him.

We are travelers here in this vale of tears, in this earthly pilgrimage, into the land of rest, the heavenly Canaan; let us follow our blessed Joshua, that is leading us into that land of promise, and he will give to every one his lot, and they shall stand in that lot at the last day: O! blessed are they that are waiting for their lot and portion in that heavenly country to which Abraham had his eye, that city, the new Jerusalem, the mother of us all, and that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, whose builder and maker is God.

This Word which I have been speaking of, is that by which we are humbled and bowed before the Lord, and instructed in judgment and righteousness: to this Word which is God, I commit and commend you, and all the flock of God, that you may be preserved to the end of your days, that you may then lay down your heads in peace, that your testimony may not end, before your lives end, that the Lord may be with us, to shelter and overshadow us in the midst of all our trials and exercises, while we are following Christ in patience, humility, and self denial, and bearing his cross, for no cross no crown. That which is pleasing to God is walking by faith; what is this faith? A pure resolution of living to God, in a holy dependance on him, and a committing ourselves entirely to him, that so we may know, and enjoy the purifying virtue of his Word, that we may not offend God, for without faith, saith the apostle, it is impossible to p lease him. By what means, saith the royal psalmist, shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy Word; this is the blessed word, that hath been a root of life in all ages, let us abide to this Word to the of our Days, and we shall then be blessed with that life which shall never end, but shall remain when time shall be no more.

The Lord preserve you by his mighty power, in his favour and divine presence, that you may live to his glory and praise, and die in peace, and be gathered into that blessed and heavenly assembly, and church of the first-born which are written in heaven, to God the judge of all, and the spirits of just men te perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel; that you may magnify and celebrate the praies of the eternal God, to whom be Glory For ever and ever. Amen.